
Class 
Book._^ 
fop}TigiitN° 



CQESRJGHT DEPOSIT. 




THE ADMINISTRATION OF VILLAGE 
AND CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS 



■ ^ ^ M o *~ 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



THE 

ADMINISTRATION OF VILLAGE 

AND CONSOLIDATED 

SCHOOLS 



BY 
ROSS L. FINNEY, Ph.D. 

M 
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL SOCIOLOGY 

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 
AND 

ALFRED L. SCHAFER, Ph.B. 

STATE HIGH SCHOOL INSPECTOR 
BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1920 

All rights reserved 



$■ 

& 



Copyright, 1920, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1920. 



NorhxooU $«2S 

J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



©CI.A559923 



PREFACE 

Practically everything that has been written on school 
administration has been written with the city system in 
mind. While much of this literature applies in a general 
way to the village school, much of it does not ; and what does 
apply has to be translated, so to speak. This book has been 
written to meet the needs of principals of small schools. It 
is intended also as a textbook for use in normal schools and 
colleges where young men and women are being trained for the 
administration of village schools. 

Two considerations have constantly been held in mind in 
the preparation of this text : first, the progress which is likely 
to occur in education in the near future, and to which the 
village principal must adapt himself ; secondly, the technique 
of administering schools as they actually are. The aim, in 
other words, is to help the principal to be both practical and 
progressive. 

The authors wish to express gratitude to their colleagues 
and professional friends, too numerous to mention here by 
name, who have assisted them in the preparation of these 
chapters. 

The Authors. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PART I 
GOVERNMENTAL ADMINISTRATION 

!HAPTEB PAGES 

I. The Function of Education in a Democracy 

What Training for Citizenship Includes — Amer- 
icanization — The Social Value of Vocational Edu- 
cation — Self-realization and Social Efficiency — 
Enriching the Life of the Community — The Schools 

of To-morrow . 3 - i4 

. 
II. The Village School and the Government 

The Federal Government and the Schools 

Material Aid — The Bureau of Education — The 
Philanthropic Foundations. 

The State Government and the Schools 

State Aid — State Control — The County and the 
Schools — The School District 15-24 

III. The Reorganization of Education 

Implications of the Ideals of Democracy — The 
Wealth of the Nation at the Disposal of the Schools 
— The Need for Professional Experts — Popular 
Control of Schools — Increased Federal and State 
Aid — Reorganization of the State Department — 
Standardization — The County Unit — The Local 

Advisory Board 25-35 

vii 



VU1 



Table of Contents 



PART II 

THE PRINCIPAL'S PERSONAL-OFFICIAL 
RELATIONS 



IV. Relation with the Board 

The Knack of Personal Relations — Tact — Com- 
mon Sense — The Management of the Board — The 
Limitations of the Board's Functions — The Board 
Meeting — The Principal's Policy .... 39-50 

V. The Principal and His Teachers 

The Selection of 'Teachers — Improvement of 
Teachers in the Service — Supervision — Various 
Administrative Relations — Professional Inspiration 



VI. Pupils, Parents, and Public 

Attention to Individual Needs — Psychological 
and Medical Clinics — Vocational Guidance — The 
Importance of Personality — Acquaintance with 
Parents — The Parent-Teacher's League — The 
Irate Parent — The Value of Public Approval — The 
Making of Public Opinion — The Social Survey 



51-62 



63-76 



PART III 

ADAPTING THE SCHOOL TO THE NEEDS OF 
THE CHILD 



VII. The Grading System 

Rise of the Class Method — Advantages and Disad- 
vantages of the Class System — Removing the Dis- 
advantages — Time for Individual Instruction — 
Grades and Tests — Examinations — Pupils' Marks 
— Getting Teachers to Mark Alike — The Standard 
Tests 79-93 



Table of Contents ix 

CHAPTER PAGES 

VIII. Introducing the Standard Tests 

Standard Tests Have Come to Stay — The Prin- 
cipal Must Use Them — Spelling — The Median — 
Arithmetic — Handwriting — Reading — Tabu- 
lating the Findings — Books Needed — Compara- 
tive Value — Diagnostic Value — The Tests Redirect 
Teaching — The Tests as Incentives . . . 94-108 

IX. Attendance, Curriculum, and Organization 

Inducing Pupils to Attend Regularly — Enforcing 
the Law — Retardation — Elimination Because of a 
Poor Curriculum — A New Age Needs a New Cur- 
riculum — The Young Educator's Opportunity — 
Drafting the New Course of Study — Motivation — 
The Junior High School 109-123 

X. The Health of the School Child 

The New Attitude toward Physical Well-being — 
The Extent of Physical Defects — Socialization of 
the Medical Profession — Organization of Health 
Work — Making the Best of Meager Resources — 
Symptoms of Common Diseases — Responsibility for 
Home Conditions — The Schoolhouse and House- 
keeping — Mental Hygiene — The Best Books . 124-137 

XI. Play and Physical Education 

The New Philosophy of Play — Social Participa- 
tion — Playground Equipment — Playground Super- 
vision — Pre-Military Training in the Schools of New 
York State 138-150 

XII. Student Activities 

The Necessity for Motivation — Froebel's Theo- 
ries — Motivation — The Special Problem of Moti- 
vating High School Work — Interschool Meets — 
Various Special Activities — Student Finances — 
The Cooperation of Institutions .... 1 51-166 



i Table of Contents 

PART IV 

• THE BUSINESS SIDE 

CHAPTER PAGES 

XIII. The Material Equipment 

The New School Plant — Remodeling the Old 
Building — Equipment — Magazines and Books — 
The Principal's Office — Janitorial Equipment . 169-181 

XIV. School Housekeeping 

'The Principal's Responsibility — Heating — Venti- 
lation — Lighting — Keeping the Schoolhouse Clean 

— Toilets — Movements of Children — The Janitor 182-192 

XV. Records, Accounts, and Reports 

The Uses of Records — Standardization of School 
Records — Classification of Instructional Records 

— Attendance Records — Progress Records — 
Health and Miscellaneous Records — Professionaliz- 
ing the Business Side — Financial Records Reveal 
the Principal's Policy — The Principal as Clerk of 
the Board — Blanks from the State Department — 
The Usual Warrant Registers — A Warrant Register 
for the Small School — Budget Making — Budget- 
ary Standards — Classification of Financial Records 

— The Principal's Annual Report to the Public — 
Educational Surveys . ... . . . 193-237 



PART V 

MISCELLANEOUS 

XVI. Getting a Good Start 

Arrive Early — Providing Necessary New Equip- 
ment — Getting Teachers Started — The First Day 
of School 241-246 



Table of Contents 



XI 



I 



CHAPTER 

XVII. 



Summary of the Technique of Teaching 

The Significance of Technique — Classroom 
Management — Items to Be Habituated — The 
Daily Program — Attendance — School Hygiene — 
Instruction — Some Recognized Rules — The Vari- 
ous Types of Lessons — Motivation — Discipline — 
The Aim of Discipline — Corrective Measures . 

XVIII. Problems Peculiar to a Consolidated School 
Country Life and the Ideals of Democracy — The 
Country Life Movement — Qualifications for Rural 
Teaching — The Teacherage — The Transportation 
Problem — Administering Transportation — Jani- 
tor Service — The Nooning — The Social Life of the 
Community — The Course of Study 

XIX. The Principal's Professional Career 

The Professional Training Needed — The Prin- 
cipal Whose Training Has Been Neglected — Glori- 
fying a Humble Lot — Pitfalls to Be Avoided — 
Some Little Requisites to Success — Business Mat- 
ters — Growing a Personality — Prizes at the Top — 
Women in the Profession 



247-261 



262-273 



274-283 



PART ONE 
GOVERNMENTAL ADMINISTRATION 



ADMINISTRATION OF VILLAGE AND 
CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS 

CHAPTER I 

THE FUNCTION OF EDUCATION IN A 
DEMOCRACY 

Democracy is surprisingly slow to realize its own implica- 
tions. The harboring of slavery, the delay in enfranchising 
women, the prevalence of one-sided notions about personal 
liberty, the toleration of heathenish extremes of luxury and 
poverty, are obvious instances. But in nothing have we been 
tardier than in our appreciation of education. 

Four stages may be enumerated in the American theory 
of the function of education in a democracy. Immediately 
after the Revolutionary War our statesmen began to urge 
the necessity of universal education. Their idea seems to 
have been that voters must be able to read in order to inform 
themselves on public questions. This implied, of course, 
free public elementary schools ; but the struggle to establish 
such schools occupied the entire period between the Revo- 
lutionary and the Civil wars. The movement was bitterly 
opposed in the name of democracy itself; and in certain 
parts of the country it was but meagerly achieved at the 
close of that period. 

What Training for Citizenship Includes. — Next our 
statesmen and educational leaders began to see that 
the contents of education could be selected and arranged 

3 



4 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

with special reference to civic aims. This conception led to 
the introduction of United States history into the elementary 
course of study, and later of civics. This occurred during the 
third quarter of the nineteenth century ; since when increas- 
ing emphasis has been placed upon national heroes and the 
heroic epochs in our national career. Recently we are begin- 
ning to realize that our young citizens need a much more 
extended and thorough training for citizenship than we have 
as yet devised. We must train the child for the patriotism 
of peace as well as for the patriotism of war. The ultimate 
success and permanency of the republic will depend no more 
upon the willingness of its young men to fight a foreign foe 
than upon their attitude toward official infidelity and the 
encroachments of vested interests. The teaching of civics, 
and especially history, and the whole attitude of the school 
and the home, ought to teach the child respect for law. It 
is not a joke to catch a blackjpass or shoot a wild duck out 
of season. It is lawbreaking, and should be felt as such. 
Our youth must be trained to assume civic responsibility. 
Reforms are often lost at the polls by the indifferent, stay-at- 
home voter. It is well for the school to devise opportunities 
for giving the pupils practice in self-government. Children 
should be taught to take the public-welfare attitude, rather 
than the personal-profit attitude toward public issues and 
offices. It is especially important that the school give boys 
and girls some knowledge of the social and economic problems 
of the day. There are scores of important problems, such as 
the trusts, vagrancy, the strained relations between capital 
and labor, unearned increment and absentee landlordism, 
etc., etc., upon many of which our pupils will, in a few years, 
be called to vote. These questions, the tariff for instance, 



The Function of Education in a Democracy 5 

we have hitherto decided by wager of political battle. But 
the school must prepare the public of succeeding generations 
to decide them in a more intelligent way. The teaching of 
community civics, so called, has been accorded a larger and 
larger place in the elementary curriculum in recent years, 
but nothing adequate has as yet been achieved. Indeed 
nothing adequate can be achieved in the elementary school; 
the child is too immature to understand these economic 
problems. Secondary education is necessary to this end. 
It is high time we saw that this kind of teaching is one of the 
chief functions of the high school. It is in unconscious but 
providential anticipation of this function that the high 
school has made such phenomenal growth in the past fifty 
years. But the course of study needs to be radically re- 
constructed and a very much larger place given to elemen- 
tary sociology and economics. The village principal who 
hastens the day when his own school will perform this task 
is a benefactor of his country. But furthermore, secondary 
education must be made universal, so that all citizens can 
receive this training. The consolidated school movement is 
significant chiefly because it promises to put high school 
facilities at the disposal of the rural population. It remains 
to be seen what sort of movement will render high school 
education accessible to the masses in our industrial centers ; 
but it must be done. 

Americanization. — The entrance of the United States into 
the Great War brought to consciousness a civic task of great 
importance to which the schools had not given sufficient 
attention in the past, namely the Americanization of our 
foreign-born population. The acute need for this was made 
evident by the pro- German propaganda and espionage that 



6 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

were rife, and by the menacing industrial agitation carried 
on by the I. W. W.'s, most of whom are foreigners. The 
Bureau of Education gave publicity to the following sig- 
nificant facts, showing the need for Americanization. One 
hundred races and nationalities live in the United States; 
33,000,000 are of foreign origin; 13,000,000 are foreign 
born ; 5,000,000 are non-English-speaking, of whom 2,000,000 
are illiterate; 3,000,000 aliens of military age are unnatural- 
ized; 1,115,392 foreign-born white males of voting age from 
the Central Powers' are unnaturalized. Foreign languages 
were used for elementary instruction in many private schools, 
English being a side issue. In some communities parochial 
schools have crowded out public schools ; 19 American dis- 
trict public schools in Nebraska were compelled to abandon 
the field to German Lutheran parochial schools. Elemen- 
tary instruction was given in German in 200 to 300 German 
Lutheran parochial schools in 59 counties of Nebraska, 357 
German teachers were employed ; the use of English was pro- 
hibited in some of these schools. 

We have always gone on the assumption that America is 
the melting pot, and that all we have to do is to dump the 
various nationalities into it and light the fire of patriotism. 
But real American citizens are not made that way ; we must 
get close to alien adults, imbue them with American ideals, 
and teach them how to live and how to participate in the 
social life of their adopted country. 

Two special sorts of education may be included under the 
head of Americanization: (1) special patriotic instruction 
in the public schools, and (2) special educational service for 
adults and minors not enrolled in the regular schools. So 
long as the war lasted the best kind of patriotic education 



The Function of Education in a Democracy 7 

in the public schools was to secure as nearly as possible a 
one hundred per cent participation on the part of the pupils 
in Junior Red Cross work, war gardening, the purchase of 
thrift stamps, and similar patriotic activities. This was 
often supplemented by learning patriotic songs, by giving 
patriotic programs both at school and before the public, and 
by pushing the " speak English " slogans. Now that the war 
is over it is to be hoped that appropriate activities of a similar 
type will be devised to inculcate the patriotism of peace. 

The Bureau of Education has worked out an elaborate 
program for encouraging, coordinating, and guiding patriotic 
education for foreign-born adults and minors over school age. 
It is expected that such education will be carried out chiefly 
through lectures and public addresses, periodicals, especially 
those printed in foreign languages, and evening schools. 
Special legislation is needed for the encouragement of eve- 
ning schools. Village and township principals should find out 
how many persons there are in their districts who need the 
service of evening schools (afternoon schools are better for 
women), and then take steps to supply the need. The 
Bureau of Education will promptly furnish abundant in- 
structions as to what to do and how to do it. The Council 
of National Defense Bulletin No. 86 is especially useful. 
The sooner the principal gets this information the better, 
as the preliminary publicity campaign is important, and the 
Bureau makes some valuable suggestions in that connection. 
Most boards will be glad to permit the use of the schoolhouse 
for evening classes, and many will see fit to finance the enter- 
prise in whole or in part. In many villages volunteer teach- 
ing will have to be relied upon, to some extent at least, but 
it should be selected with care. 



S Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

However important this emergency program of Americaniza- 
tion may be as a war and reconstruction measure, our en- 
thusiasm in carrying it out must not blind us to the need of 
a vastly more comprehensive program as a permanent policy 
of Americanization. Permanently loyal American citizens 
are made not merely by flaunting flags, singing patriotic 
songs, and worshiping heroes, but by guaranteeing full 
participation in a socially just^ democracy. Americanization 
as a permanent educational program must gradually come 
to signify a system of education that will, in the first place, 
produce a socially just democracy, and, in the second place, 
guarantee to all, whether native or foreign born, full par- 
ticipation in the benefits thereof. But more of this presently. 

The Social Value of Vocational Education. — The present 
emphasis upon industrial education seems to mark a third 
stage in the evolution of democratic education. Aside from 
the industrial necessity for industrial training the movement 
has a democratic significance. It is felt that every ^individual 
has a right to preparation for the type of work he is destined 
to make his Hying by ; that poverty should not be allowed to 
push anybody into the world's work without such training ; 
and that the humble workers have as much right to their 
training as the professional classes have to theirs. Further, 
it is felt to be a self-protective policy for democracy to insure 
the industrial efficiency of every citizen. And finally, in- 
dustrial education, if administered with vision and foresight, 
can be utilized to secure a more equitable distribution of 
wealth, a more sympathetic relation between social classes, 
and to counteract the tendency toward caste stratification. 
This last is not as clearly recognized as it ought to be. 

The principal should clearly recognize, therefore, the edu- 



The Function of Education in a Democracy 9 

cational value of participating in the world's work. Oppor- 
tunity should be given the child for this sort of experience. 
The curriculum and the spirit of the school should be frankly 
associated with the industrial life of the corrmiunity. The 
school must also recognize its responsibility for preparing 
the rising generation to play their part in industry. On 
every hand there is a demand for industrial training in the 
schools, and it cannot come too rapidly. The boys and girls 
of to-day must take their places in the technical, scientific 
industry of to-morrow ; and the village school must frankly 
adopt the policy of preparing them for it. In preparing for 
vocational life the school should open the eyes of the children 
to the art and the science involved in the daily task of every 
worker. This would mean the difference between mere 
drudgery and inspiring work and is one of the most important 
items in the program of ameliorating labor conditions. 

Self-realization and Social Efficiency. — We are approach- 
ing a fourth stage in the evolution of democratic education, 
and it may be worth while to set forth its ideals somewhat 
at length. 

Democracy (in common with Christianity) asserts the 
dignity and worth of each individual human life. Jesus 
taught that all men are sons of the universal Heavenly Father. 
Every person has a right to be happy, declared Rousseau. 
Every individual has a right to be treated as an end and not 
as a means, asserted Kant. All men are endowed by their 
Creator with the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. Democracy undertakes to guarantee 
each and every individual an opportunity to live as com- 
plete and satisfying a life as his native powers will permit. 

Democracy has never yet placed the emphasis upon in- 



io Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

dividual duty and responsibility that Christianity does, but 
as democracy matures that emphasis is increasing. We are 
coming to see ever more clearly that the permanent success 
of democracy, like life insurance or any other cooperative 
enterprise, depends upon how much the beneficiaries put 
into it. Democracy implies that every individual must be 
brought to the fullest physical, mental, and moral usefulness 
that his native equipment implies. 

The happiness that democracy undertakes to guarantee, 
and the usefulness that it demands, both depend upon the 
education of body, mind, and heart. Nor will any meager, 
stinted, makeshift education answer those purposes. It must 
be an education that insures the individual full participation 
in all the rich cultural inheritance of the race. Skills, tech- 
niques, sciences, arts, recreations, institutions, customs, 
literature, codes, ideals, philosophies, have all been slowly 
built up by the race to satisfy the needs of human life. De- 
mocracy means that each and every one is to share in these 
to the full measure of his innate capacities. He is entitled 
to his choice of the skills and techniques necessary to pro- 
duction ; he is entitled to the use of all the good things that 
civilization has produced. And what any one is entitled to 
enjoy all are entitled to share in alike. If music is a source 
of refined pleasure, the miner who has toiled all day in the 
sooty depths of the earth is as much entitled to it as the soft- 
handed sons and daughters of ease. If Jean Valjean is worth 
knowing, the farmer's hired hand has as much claim upon 
his acquaintance as has the minister or the lawyer. If a 
knowledge of science releases from superstition and disease, 
whom shall we choose to deprive of the knowledge? If 
training for a wholesome family life, and for participation in 



The Function of Education in a Democracy n 

religious, political, aesthetic, and other social activities is 
desirable for the " better classes," it is as desirable also for 
the " masses." Thus all classes will become better classes. 
An equitable distribution of learning, culture, and opportunity- 
is the most fundamental requisite to the success and perma- 
nence of democracy. 

Enriching the Life of the Community. — It is interesting 
to imagine how life in the average village and rural community 
might be enriched by a more liberal participation in the good 
things of the social heritage. The tragic barrenness of rural 
life that Hamlin Garland complains of is due largely to ig- 
norance. At least most of it might be cured by the right 
kind of education. Give every inhabitant of the village and 
township an adequate knowledge of science, and living condi- 
tions would become sanitary and hygienic, the quack doctor 
and the patent medicine vender would lose their trade, re- 
ligious superstitions and bigotries would fade away, epidemics 
would disappear, and farming would be revolutionized. The 
knowledge of and love for literature and music might furnish 
a wholesome happiness and a moral protection which people 
in rural communities sadly lack as a rule. The latent musical, 
dramatic, and oratorical talents that lie dormant in the average 
community are an undeveloped resource that if utilized might 
be made to furnish cheap and wholesome recreation, for the 
lack of which degrading amusements corrupt and demoralize 
the people. A public-spirited musician, with qualities of 
leadership, could revolutionize the culture, morals, and social 
life of the community. 

The artistic barrenness of the average little village is tragic 
indeed. Ancestral tablets and livid chromos take the 
place of pictures ; a cheap, squealing phonograph or a 



12 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

made-sir-to-sell piano rattle ragtime; the village presents 
a hideous landscape appearance with its unpainted, tumble- 
down sheds, its weedy fence rows, and its piles of com- 
post and old machinery. And yet the artistic resources 
latent in every such village are almost beyond belief. If 
they were fed on race treasures they would replace hideous- 
ness with loveliness. The traditions of Europe and the past 
may justify a peasant life for a peasant people ; but de- 
mocracy demands a rural life that will prove " permanently 
satisfying to representative American citizens " ; and this 
can be realized only as education puts rural people into pos- 
session of all the rich heritage of the race. 

And what democracy is bound to furnish to farmers and 
the people of farm villages it is bound to furnish also to all 
kinds and classes of people. It is a fundamental sociological 
principle that society is held together by common interests. 
The more social order depends upon voluntary loyalty in- 
stead of force, the more necessary this common interest; 
and the more varied and complex the civilization, the larger 
and more varied the culture that must be made a common 
possession. It is such sociological considerations as these 
that make evident the necessity for a universal liberal educa- 
tion. This is the program of Americanization that will prove 
adequate in the long run. 

The Schools of To-morrow. — All this implies a school 
system for to-morrow that we little dream of to-day. It 
means at least a high school education for everybody (except 
defectives) , and an advanced education for all who are capable 
of profiting themselves and society by it. Universal sec- 
ondary education must become the American slogan. The 
compulsory attendance age must be correspondingly raised. 



The Function of Education in a Democracy 13 

We must quitjtalking about children that have to drop out 
of school_early ; instead we must find means of keeping them 
in school. This will mean more than free textbooks ; it may 
mean freejood and clothing. And it will mean a curriculum 
adapted to the psychic needs of adolescent life and to the 
social needs of twentieth century civilization. It will also 
mean teachers adequately trained and adequately paid for 
these new responsibilities. All of this will require funds 
such as we have never before supposed it possible to invest 
in education ; but the funds are available. We have but to 
install a tax system that will endow universal opportunity 
instead of special privilege and hereditary luxury. Such a 
school system may seem Utopian, but there are several evi- 
dences that it will come : the ideals of democracy demand 
it ; the rate of educational progress of the last two generations 
would, if continued, bring it in a generation or two ; England 
has recently, and in the midst of a great war, taken a long 
stride in this direction; and the times are revolutionary. 
As this book goes to press the Joint Commission's education 
bill is before Congress. If that bill or a similar measure is 
presently enacted into law it will mark a new era in American 
education. 

But the function of education is not merely to prepare the 
citizen for the performance of his civic duties, not only to 
assure his happiness and usefulness by putting into his hands 
what civilization has already produced ; its further function 
is to bring into existence a better civilization, a juster de- 
mocracy to-morrow than we enjoy to-day. Education is 
the steering gear of civilization, especially in a democracy. 
And that is destined to be an immeasurable responsibility 
during the generation or two just ahead ; for the times are 



14 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

indeed revolutionary. The reconstruction period upon which 
we are just entering will see greater social changes than have 
ever occurred in a like span of time since recorded history 
began. Some of us now alive may live to see a new setting 
of the social stage as different from ours as ours is different 
from that of naked savages. And whether the stage setting 
is shifted quietly and without friction, or with noise and 
blood and fire, will depend largely on the leadership of the 
schoolmaster. If he conceives vividly the ideals and im- 
plications of democracy, and understands clearly the socio- 
logical laws that govern social organization and reorganiza- 
tion, all is likely to be well. But too few educators have the 
sociological insight to anticipate this strategic responsibility. 
Such being the function of education in a democracy, it is 
evident that the village principal who does his work efficiently 
and with vision may well rejoice in the consciousness of a 
vital service rendered to his country and to God. 

REFERENCES 

Douglas, Harlan Paul. The Little Town. 

A study in community life. 
Robbins, Charles L. The School as a Social Institution. 

A good elementary text in educational sociology. 
Smith, W. R. An Introduction to Educational Sociology. 

A late book, and a good one, in this new field. 
Snedden, David. Vocational Education after the War, in School and 
Society (Garrison, N. Y.) for December 28, 1918. 
Contains very practical suggestions for organizing vocational educa- 
tion. Suggestive for the principal who wishes to develop part time 
arrangements. 
Tubbs, E. V. The Part-time Plan in the Centralia High School, in School 
Review (University of Chicago Press), February, 1918. 
Describes a plan by which two boys alternate in school and in shop. 



CHAPTER II 
THE VILLAGE SCHOOL AND THE GOVERNMENT 

The Federal Government and the Schools 

In America sovereignty, so far as education is concerned, 
resides with the states. When the federal constitution 
was adopted certain powers were delegated to the federal 
government and certain others were prohibited to the state. 
Education was not among these. In the very nature of the 
case education had been in charge of the colonial govern- 
ments, and it accordingly remained in the hands of the state 
governments. The federal government has no adminis- 
trative authority therein. Its only function is such volun- 
teer assistance as it has from time to time seen fit to render. 

This voluntary patronage has been principally of two 
sorts : first, material aid to the states ; secondly, the advisory 
leadership of -the Bureau of Education at Washington. 

Material Aid. — The most important material aid has been 
in the form of land grants to the states for the aid of common 
schools. From the very beginning of our national history one 
section in every township of the newly created states was set 
aside for this purpose ; and, since 1850, two sections. In addi- 
tion to these two sections, there have been various minor 
land grants, including allotments to special institutions. In 
all about 81,000,000 acres have been given to the various 
states for educational purposes, an area equal to Ohio, In- 
diana, and Illinois. In some cases this land was unwisely 

15 



1 6 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

administered, and the proceeds partly squandered ; but the 
younger states have profited by these early mistakes and have 
learned to conserve their lands to better advantage, so that 
now they provide vast sums every year to be used by the 
several states in aid of their respective school systems. For 
obvious reasons Maine, West Virginia, Texas, and the original 
thirteen states have received no land grants. The reader 
will be interested to look up the facts in his own state. 

Next in historical sequence to the land grants for common 
schools was the Morrell Act of 1862. This law provided a 
liberal appropriation of land " to the endowment, support, 
and maintenance of at least one college " in each state, " where 
the leading objects should be ... to teach such branches of 
learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts." 
Subsequent acts have added to the original land grant liberal 
subsidies in money for the support of these schools. As a re- 
sult each state has its agricultural college from which the 
village school derives assistance in various ways, especially in 
connection with the teaching of agriculture. Under the 
Smith-Lever Act of 19 14 the assistance of the federal gov- 
ernment in the teaching of agriculture and domestic science 
has been greatly extended. The village principal may now 
secure assistance from the extension workers of the agricul- 
tural college and from the county agricultural agent, all of 
whom are supported jointly by the federal and state govern- 
ments under the provisions of the Smith-Lever Act. 

The Smith-Hughes Act, which became a law in February, 
191 7, is an epoch-making measure as far as concerns federal 
aid to industrial education. The measure is designed to 
stimulate not only the teaching of agriculture, as have various 
other federal grants since 1862, but home economics and in- 



The Village School and the Government 17 

dustrial subjects as well — and this is the epoch-making 
feature of it. To secure the grants the state legislatures 
must formally accept the provisions of the act (which most 
of them have done), and meet the federal appropriations 
dollar for dollar. The grant for the teaching of agriculture 
is apportioned among the states in proportion to their rural 
population ; that for " trade, home economics, and industrial 
subjects " on the basis of their urban population. An equal 
appropriation is made for each of these purposes, the amount 
in each case being $500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 
1 918, and increasing annually until $3,000,000 is reached for 
1926 and thereafter. In addition a much smaller sum is 
appropriated for training teachers of these subjects. The 
" controlling purpose " of this act is " to fit for useful em- 
ployment." The instruction is designed for persons over 
fourteen years of age, but is not to be of college grade. The 
Smith-Hughes Act ought to mark the beginning of a policy 
on the part of our state and federal governments that will 
ultimately provide for adequate industrial education. 

On October 10, 1918, a new education bill was introduced 
in the Senate by Hoke Smith of Georgia. The bill had been 
prepared by a Joint Commission of the National Education 
Association and the Federal Bureau of Education. The two 
features of this bill are (1) to elevate the Bureau of Education 
into a Department with a Secretary of cabinet rank, and 
(2) to appropriate $100,000,000 of federal money annually 
to the states for the aid of education, each federal dollar to 
be met by a new dollar of state money. This money would 
be used for various purposes such as Americanization, to 
banish illiteracy, to equalize educational opportunities in 
the several states, for hygienic education, and for teacher 



1 8 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

training. If this bill should become law, it would put edu- 
cation on an entirely different footing. Something of this 
sort is necessary and would seem inevitable in the not distant 
future. 

The Bureau of Education. — The Bureau of Education 
was established in 1867. The functions of the Bureau are 
as follows : First, it is a clearing house of information in 
regard to educational matters, publishing reports and bulletins 
on all conceivable phases of education. Secondly, it is a 
clearing house of the opinions of educational experts. The 
Bureau carries on a voluminous correspondence, conducts 
conventions, and by various other means gathers together 
the opinions of leading educators, publishes them, and fur- 
nishes them to the educational public. Thirdly, the Bureau 
advises legislatures, boards of education, teachers, and others ; 
conducts surveys and reports on the same, and in this way 
furnishes guidance to those engaged in educational adminis- 
tration. Fourthly, it promotes various progressive move- 
ments in almost every phase of education. And fifthly, it 
has taken up the task of working out standards of measure- 
ment for the appraisal of educational activities. All this 
affects the village school both directly and indirectly, in- 
directly in so far as new movements are promoted by the 
Bureau and guided by the information it furnishes. Edu- 
cational leaders then feel the Bureau's influence, and pass it 
on to the schools whose policy they direct. But the village 
school may profit directly much more than it has ordinarily 
done by the service of the Bureau of Education. While the 
Bureau does not publish enough of its bulletins and reports 
to supply the library or the principal of each village school 
in the country regularly with all its publications, still most 



The Village School and the Government 19 

enterprising principals who ask for the bulletins or reports 
of the Bureau will not be disappointed ; and the more re- 
quests that come in, the sooner the Bureau will be permitted 
to print its publications in more adequate numbers. The 
principal can secure information on almost any educational 
subject by writing the Bureau at Washington, and he should 
take pains to keep himself familiar with its publications. In 
fact he should ask to have his name put on the mailing list. 
The Bureau prints monthly a bibliography of current educa- 
tional literature, which is especially useful to all progressive 
educators. 

The Philanthropic Foundations. — There seems to be no 
more logical place than this to mention certain voluntary 
institutions of national significance. The great philanthropic 
foundations — the General Educational Board, the Carnegie 
Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Rocke- 
feller Foundation — grant aid and conduct researches that 
affect indirectly the activities and welfare of the village school. 
Also the Proceedings of the National Education Association 
are great repositories of professional information and should 
be found in the school's library. No school man can be out 
of touch with these institutions and their publications and 
hope to keep up with the times. 

The State Government and the Schools 

State Aid. — The educational activities of the state govern- 
ments are also of two sorts : financial aid and administrative 
control. As for the first, the state administers the funds 
accruing from federal grants and also provides school funds 
on its own account. Most states have some special fund 
set aside for educational purposes. Appropriations are also 



20 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

made from time to time by the legislature for the support, 
not only of the state's higher institutions of learning, but also 
for the common schools. The states differ so much in these 
matters, however, that detailed descriptions cannot be at- 
tempted. The reader is referred to the school laws of his 
state, a copy of which can usually be secured from the county 
superintendent. The principal should, of course, familiarize 
himself with the school laws of his own state. 

State Control. — Since the state — that is, the people of 
the whole state — is sovereign in matters of education, it is 
the state law that prescribes regulations and restrictions for 
the conduct of local schools. This is the most important 
aspect of the state's educational work. By state law rules 
are enacted relative to school funds, both state and local, as 
to how they are to be levied, collected, disbursed, and ad- 
ministered. The state law specifies the various school officers, 
both state and local, and determines how they are to be selected 
and what their duties are to be. The state prescribes rules for 
the administration of schools, specifying how districts are to 
be organized, how teachers are to be certificated and what 
their duties are, how attendance is to be regulated, what the 
course of study must include, and how textbooks are to be 
selected and furnished. The state sets standards with re- 
spect to the course of study, quality of teaching, construction 
of buildings and other material equipment, and sanitation. 
The state also provides for the special care of defectives and 
delinquents. 

For the administration and enforcement of these regula- 
tions the state maintains a corps of school officers, usually a 
state board of education and a state superintendent of educa- 
tion, with certain subordinates, deputies, and special super- 



The Village School and the Government 21 

visors. With these officers the village principal has more or 
less official business ; and the state's educational policy, which 
they are supposed to determine, determines, in part at least, 
the principal's policy for his own school. 

The County and the Schools. — The county's relation to 
the village schools is in process of revolution. A century 
ago it was zero. The districts were practically autonomous, 
and county superin tendency was as yet unheard of. In New 
England the county government even now bears little rela- 
tion to the public schools, administration having been de- 
veloped on the township basis. County superin tendency 
grew up during the second and third quarters of the nine- 
teenth century. Revolutionary changes with respect to the 
counties' relations to schools are expected in the near future 
and will be described in the next chapter. 

Financially the county as a rule has nothing to do for the 
schools except to receive money voted by the districts or 
furnished by the state and disburse it to the schools accord- 
ing to the provisions of the state law. 

The business of the county superintendent is principally 
to keep records and to visit and inspect schools. This he 
usually does with authority so meager as to render his effi- 
ciency very much less than might be desired. The superin- 
tendent, being chosen for his office as a rule by political 
methods, is seldom able to take a truly professional attitude 
toward his work. The numerous exceptions to be found in 
various parts of the country are cases in which the personality 
of the incumbent overcomes the obstacles inherent in the 
nature of the office itself. In connection with his visitation 
and inspection of schools the county superintendent advises 
teachers and consults with school officers. He is held in 



22 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

some degree responsible for the enforcement of school law, 
but usually with seriously limited authority. In some states 
he examines and certificates teachers, and in most states 
conducts institutes. His educational leadership depends 
almost entirely upon the force of his own personality. 

The School District. — The schools are still so largely sub- 
ject to the control of local authorities that their quality 
depends mostly upon the intelligence and the progressive 
attitude of the local community and its school officers. Of 
recent years there has been a marked growth in the authority 
and influence of the principal, so that he exerts an ever 
increasing influence on the character of the school. The 
city government of incorporated villages seldom has any- 
thing to do with the schools. Instead they are under the 
control of school districts, which in most northern states are 
subdivisions of the township. The school district has an 
interesting history. In colonial times the unit of school ad- 
ministration in New England was the town (that is, the 
township) ; but as population grew, settlements multiplied 
until each township contained several nuclei of population, 
centering around the churches. Gradually this resulted in 
the subdivision of a township into districts, the districts 
usually being coextensive with the parishes. Little by little, 
through the lapse of two centuries, the control of the school 
was transferred from the township to these districts, until at 
last the districts became practically autonomous. The dis- 
advantages of this arrangement, which will be discussed in 
the next chapter, were so great that a reaction set in about 
three quarters of a century ago, with the result that every- 
where the districts are now supervised from above. In some 
states there has been a partial return to the township system. 



The Village School and the Government 23 

In North Dakota, for instance, the township is the school 
district, except in the five counties settled earliest. In most 
of the northern states the district system has been retained. 
The districts are no longer independent, however, of county 
supervision; and state regulation of local schools has been 
vastly increased. Nevertheless it is usual to provide by law 
for the district organization of larger towns that renders them 
independent of the county superintendent. 

The schools of the district are controlled and administered 
by a board of directors, or trustees, in whom is vested con- 
siderable authority by the state law. They levy the school 
tax upon the district, and, when authorized by the people, 
bond the district and pay for school improvements. They 
employ teachers and have general control of the schools, 
subject to the restrictions imposed upon them by the laws 
of the state. The principal's most obvious and constant 
relation with the government is through the school board. 
They stand between him and the sovereign people, represent- 
ing the latter. His successful adjustment of himself to his 
board is one of the most important items in the technique 
of his profession, and will receive discussion in the proper 
place. 

REFERENCES 

Cubbeexey, E. P. Public School Administration. 
Part I traces the development of educational administration by the 
government. 
Cubberley, E. P., and Elliott, E. C. State and County School Ad- 
ministration. 
Vol. I, Principles. 
Division II deals in detail with the relation of the state to education. 



24 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Cubberley, E. P.,- and Elliott, E. C. State and County School Ad- 
ministration. 
Vol. II, Source Book. 
Illustrative documents. 
Dutton, S. T., and Snedden, D. S. Administration of Public Educa- 
tion in the United States. 
Chapters IV- VIII cover the field of this chapter. 
Hollister, H. A. The Administration of Education in a Democracy. 
One of the standard works on the subject. Part II treats of the sub- 
ject of this chapter. 
Monroe, Paul (editor). Cyclopedia of Education. 

See articles: "National Government of the United States and Edu- 
cation," "County System," "State School System," and "Town- 
ship System." 



CHAPTER III 
THE REORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION 

Implications of the Ideals of Democracy. — The under- 
lying axioms of democracy imply that everybody share, and 
share liberally, in the benefits of education. If education 
helps people to live more richly, nobody may, in a consistent 
democracy, be deprived of its privileges. If art, literature, 
and music are good for the professional man and the well-to-do, 
by what principle of democracy shall we expect the miner 
and the ditch digger to do without them ? Everybody has a ^ 
right to self-realization, and if liberal education is necessary 
thereto, a government like ours must undertake to furnish it. f 

Moreover, industry demands many kinds of skill and 
knowledge that cannot be learned in the course of the day's 
work, and that the poor cannot afford to acquire at their 
own expense before beginning their life work. Unless the 
schools furnish this training, society will be burdened by a 
mass of unskilled incompetents and industry handicapped 
by a lack of skilled laborers. Also, the problems that the 
voters must settle at the polls are so numerous and so diffi- 
cult that they cannot be expected to solve them correctly 
without a thorough, well-guided study of them. For these 
reasons democracy must as a matter of self-preservation 
give all its people considerable education. 

Education in a democracy must be universal. Nor can 
it be meager. The minimum essentials are so great that a 

25 



26 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

mere elementary education is no longer sufficient. Uni- 
versal secondary education, including both cultural and 
vocational subjects, is necessary to the success of democracy. 
The sooner we adopt this slogan the better; its realization 
must not be long delayed. 

Two administrative principles logically follow from the 
foregoing axioms : first, the poor must not be left to provide 
themselves with such education as they can ; secondly, the 
indifferent must not be left to provide themselves with such 
education as they will. 

The Wealth of the Nation at the Disposal of the Schools. — 
The first of these principles may be restated thus : school 
funds must be levied in proportion to the means of the tax- 
payer. This principle was worked out in the evolution of 
American schools nearly a hundred years ago. It was sup- 
posed at the close of colonial times that education was largely 
the responsibility of the family. Children were educated 
in proportion to the means of their parents. But by the 
time our republic was three quarters of a century old it be- 
came obvious that no individual's education might be neg- 
lected just because his parents were poor. Under the system 
of public education developed in the northern states between 
1825 and 1865 the principle was adopted that a citizen must 
support the schools in proportion to his means, and not in 
proportion to the number of children sent to them. This 
was stubbornly resisted for a time as an infringement of the 
rights of the individual taxpayer ; but democracy gradually 
prevailed, till now it is taken as a matter of course. 

It remains, however, to extend the application of this 
principle to localities. Hitherto it has been limited, for the 
most part, to families. But we are coming to see that a 



The Reorganization of Education 27 

township or village cannot be permitted to neglect the edu- 
cation of its children because it is poverty-stricken. The 
neighboring communities must, if they are wealthier, assist 
it. If a county has a larger school population and a lower 
tax valuation than the other counties of the state, it may 
rightly expect help from outside. The same principle applies 
to states also. For these reasons we need a change in our 
methods of financing education; at present local units are 
left too much to their own resources, much as families were a 
hundred years ago. 

The Need for Professional Experts. — The second prin- 
ciple stated above implies that the educational expert should 
have a good deal more to say about the conduct of our schools 
than heretofore. The quality of schooling furnished must 
not be left merely to the choice of ignorant patrons. Schools 
should be more thoroughly supervised by experts, and should 
be controlled by laws drafted by experts. This raises the 
problem of how to secure really competent educators for 
county, state, and federal offices, and how to define their 
responsibilities. This principle also implies obviously the 
enforcement of attendance laws. 

Popular Control of Schools. — But there is a third prin- 
ciple, which this one just mentioned seems to contradict. 
It is indeed older and perhaps more fundamental than either 
of these two, and must never be overlooked. It is the demo- 
cratic principle that the people must always have a large 
share in both the support and the control of their own local 
schools. This is a fundamental doctrine on which self-govern- 
ment Js based. It is necessary for two reasons. In the first 
place, it is necessary in order to secure the interest of the 
people themselves. No really democratic education can be 



28 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

maintained without it. If the people do not participate in 
the support of the schools they will presently become un- 
willing to patronize them. It is necessary, in the second 
place, to prevent a professional bureaucracy. This would 
mean sooner or later an educational system out of touch with 
the people and therefore remote from their real needs. 

Increased Federal and State Aid. — The changes in the 
administrative organization of education necessary in order 
better to realize these three principles will now be described. 

First, the federal government. The influence of the federal 
government in the educational affairs of this republic ought 
to be radically extended. The Bureau of Education should 
be erected into a regular Department, and the Commissioner 
of Education given a portfolio in the President's Cabinet. 
The Commissioner and his staff should be the most con- 
structive educational statesmen the country can produce. 
The Department's function should be to outline an educa- 
tional policy for the nation that would be adequate to the 
needs of democracy in a complex civilization and a period of 
rapid and revolutionary social reconstruction. The financial 
aid of the federal government should be vastly extended, 
sufficiently, indeed, to insure the compliance of the states 
with the policy outlined at Washington. The federal gov- 
ernment's resources are practically limitless, especially when 
one considers the possibilities of the taxation of monopo- 
listic corporations — not to dream about the returns from 
nationalized railroads or other vast industries. And when 
one takes into consideration how much richer some states 
are than others in proportion to their school population one 
sees how necessary national subsidizing of education is if 
educational opportunity is to be equitably distributed the 



The Reorganization of Education 29 

country over. The Smith-Hughes Act of 191 7 undoubtedly 
marks the beginning of this new era in the relation of the 
federal government to our educational system. The Joint 
Commission's bill would, if enacted into law, mark an even 
longer stride. 

And what has just been said about federal aid may also be 
said about state aid, for the financial resources of the various 
localities within a state are grotesquely out of proportion to 
the cost of maintaining good schools. The principle of state 
aid is only in its infancy, and should receive vast extension. 
The states also have undeveloped resources of taxation 
scarcely dreamed of as yet. The fact is, our whole tax system 
needs a thoroughgoing reconstruction, and this is of the 
highest importance to the cause of education. If our states 
would tax corporations, inheritance, and the increments in 
land and other values, as European nations have already 
learned to do, they could build up funds for the aid of schools 
that would approach adequacy. Such should be distributed 
on the basis of two purposes. First, the distribution should 
be in proportion to the school population in every locality, 
the object being to furnish just as good schools in densely 
populated communities where the tax valuation is low as in 
more sparsely settled localities where the tax valuation is 
high. Secondly, the funds should serve as a sort of bonus 
or reward for educational progress. For example, consoli- 
dated schools in rural communities should receive a more 
liberal state aid as an inducement to consolidation. 

Reorganization of the State Department. — The adminis- 
tration of schools on the part of the state should be so or- 
ganized as to give an opportunity for experts to devise and 
carry out a positive policy. At the same time there must 



30 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

be maintained a nice balance of administrative responsibility 
between the local community and the state. The local com- 
munity should be compelled and financially aided to maintain 
a minimum standard of education. Beyond this it should 
be encouraged and indeed stimulated to develop its own 
initiative. There should be " uniformity in essentials and 
liberty in non-essentials." The state should organize its 
administrative machinery in order to secure these results. 

To this end the state superintendency should be taken out 
of politics entirely. The practice now in vogue in most of 
the states of electing a state superintendent by popular vote 
and for a comparatively short term of office renders the office 
undesirable as a rule to men of real professional attainments, 
and the tenure of office so insecure as to interfere seriously 
with the development of a constructive policy. It would be 
far better if the state superintendent were selected by a state 
board of education, as the president of the state university 
is selected by the board of trustees or regents. This would 
make possible the selection of an expert purely on the basis 
of his professional merits. There is a difference of opinion 
as to whether the state board of education should be elected 
by the people or appointed by the governor. The method of 
appointment seems to have the preference. If such a board 
were to select the state superintendent on his merits and for 
an indefinite term of service at an adequate salary, the office 
would attract good men and make possible the development 
of a constructive policy. 

Standardization. — The central problem in the state ad- 
ministration of education is undoubtedly the problem of the 
standardization of schools. The schools should be held up, 
as has been said, to a minimum standard with respect to the 



The Reorganization of Education 31 

material equipment, the curriculum, and the quantity and 
quality of teaching. So far as material equipment is con- 
cerned, standards may safely be prescribed either by law or 
by ruling of the educational department. The withholding 
of state aid would probably prove an effective incentive for 
the maintenance of such standards, especially when state 
aid shall have been developed to the proportion just outlined. 
So far as the curriculum is concerned, that may well be out- 
lined by the state board of education, but it should certainly 
be flexible — mandatory only with respect to essentials, sug- 
gestive with respect to everything else. How to induce the 
local schools to carry out the course of study, and how to 
secure sufficient inspection of a high quality, is another prob- 
lem. The state examination, however, should be condemned. 
It interferes with local initiative, which should be encouraged. 
It has a tendency to stifle the more spiritual kind of teach- 
ing, and to substitute instead a mechanical cramming for the 
examination. This was sufficiently demonstrated by the 
" payment by results " scheme, tried out in England half a 
century ago. Further, the scheme is found in practice to 
interfere with the individualization of teaching. Each pupil 
has his own peculiar needs, and these cannot be cared for by 
the examiners at the state capital. No one knows how many 
young lives have been ruined by the inelasticity of the state 
examination system. It is but a miserable substitute for 
good teachers and adequate supervision. There is only one 
way to standardize teaching, and that is to standardize the 
teacher. And the only way to standardize the teacher is, 
first, to require of her adequate training, and, secondly, to 
give her adequate supervision. The only practical way to 
find out whether a teacher is living up to the course of study 



32 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

and doing her work well is for the principal or superintendent 
to find it out by personal inspection. No absent treatment 
is a substitute for this. 

The County Unit. — The reorganization of the local ma- 
chinery for administration of schools is one of the most urgent 
problems in education. The present arrangement is entirely 
inadequate and unsatisfactory, both from the standpoint of 
financing and of supervising the schools. The area is often 
too small. This can be illustrated by supposing the case of a 
small mining village where the school population is excessive 
and the people poor. The valuation of taxable property in 
such a village will be too small for the proper support of the 
schools. Lying all about this village there may be a rich 
agricultural area, the land having a market value of two or 
three hundred dollars per acre. The number of children 
of school age in such a rural township might be very small, 
so that the tax rate necessary for the support of the schools 
would be very low indeed. There are large numbers of just 
such villages as this in the state of Illinois, and the school 
facilities are notoriously unequal. Such a situation is des- 
perately in need of a remedy. In the second place, the 
supervision of schools in the rural districts and small villages 
is egregiously inadequate. As has already been stated, the 
usual political method of selecting- a county superintendent 
makes it exceedingly difficult for the office to secure and re- 
tain a person of real educational efficiency ; and, even so, the 
amount of supervision expected of one superintendent is 
impossible. The unprofessional character of the office is, 
however, the chief obstacle to its efficiency. 

Educational experts now universally agree that the county 
should be the unit of local organization for the administration 



The. Reorganization of Education 33 

of schools. At the head of the county school system there 
should be a county board of education corresponding to the 
board of education in our larger cities. The members of this 
board should be elected by the people ; but they should have 
no other political responsibility than the control of the schools. 
In other words, the county board of education should con- 
sist of five or seven, certainly not more than nine, represen- 
tative citizens of the county, chosen at large by the people ; 
but their selection should be divorced entirely from party 
politics. This county board should have a function analogous 
to that of the city board. The county superintendent should 
be chosen by this board on the basis of his personal and pro- 
fessional merits only, and the board should be at liberty to go 
anywhere into the markets of the country to find its man. 
By such an arrangement as this the county superin tendency 
would be put on a professional basis. The tenure of office 
should be made secure, and the incumbent given an oppor- 
tunity to work out an adequate educational policy for the 
county. 

This would permit a system of supervision of the village 
and rural schools of the county approaching in excellence 
that already worked out in the cities. In fact, our city 
schools have succeeded in solving the problem of adminis- 
tration to a fairly creditable degree, while the rural schools 
lag far behind in this respect. This reorganization of the 
county is the outstanding lesson that the country may learn 
from the city so far as schools are concerned. It is sound, 
moreover, from the standpoint of political theory, for all 
modern experience goes to show that the people may be 
trusted to select representatives for legislative and general 
administrative functions, but not technical experts. This 



34 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

county unit plan would also help to solve the problem of 
school support by giving the larger area of taxation so much 
needed. It would also solve the problem of enforcing the 
state laws relative to attendance. At present the superin- 
tendent's reward for enforcing them vigorously and con- 
scientiously is liable to be the loss of his office at the next 
election. An appointed superintendent, if given adequate 
authority, could enforce them without fear. 

It may be objected that this scheme is in vogue in a few 
northern states and has not always worked out well. In- 
diana may be cited as an example. There the hoped-for 
elimination of politics has not resulted; but the reason is 
obvious. The county board is composed of the political 
leaders of each township, instead of being composed of men 
elected on a non-partisan ballot, and intrusted with educa- 
tional functions only. 

The Local Advisory Board. — So much for the support 
and administration of schools. It remains to say a few 
words further about popular participation in their support 
and management. This, for the reason stated above, is 
absolutely necessary to the success of the schools of a de- 
mocracy. Under the arrangement already outlined, this 
would be provided for in part by local taxes, voted upon 
themselves by the people of the county. As long as the 
people are supporting the schools they are bound to feel an 
interest in them ; but a unit of local taxation smaller than 
the county is no more necessary in the country than is a ward 
unit of taxation in the city, especially in modern days of easy 
communication. Popular participation is further provided 
for by the popular election of the school board. Nor is it 
necessary in this case to have a ward unit in the city or a 



The Reorganization of Education 35 

township unit in the country. The county unit does not 
take the matter out of the hands of the people. 

An additional provision for popular participation may be 
suggested, namely, something in the nature of a local ad- 
visory board, preferably as unofficial as possible in its nature. 
This device has been used successfully in the administration 
of public charity and correction. It has become quite cus- 
tomary for the states to provide for an advisory board of 
supervision for penitentiaries and insane asylums. The 
membership of these boards is appointive, the incumbents 
serve without pay, and their function is purely advisory. 
The same arrangement in the case of county or township 
almshouses has actually been carried out successfully. 
The analogy is suggestive for the public school, and it leads 
us to infer that an advisory council for each local school, 
authorized by law, and perhaps selected by a parent-teachers' 
association, might serve the purpose. We need in America 
to learn that public opinion is sometimes just as effective 
when organized unofficially as officially. 

The reorganization of education outlined above, especially 
the county reorganization, will probably come in most of 
the states within a generation or less. Meantime it is neces- 
sary for the village principal to cooperate intelligently, tact- 
fully, and patiently with the machinery now in existence. 
But he should, nevertheless, be an intelligent advocate of 
reorganization. 

REFERENCES 

Same as Chapter II. Also U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletins 
No. 8 and No. 16, 1916. 



PART TWO 

THE PRINCIPAL'S PERSONAL-OFFICIAL 
RELATIONS 



CHAPTER IV 
RELATION WITH THE BOARD 

The Knack of Personal Relations. — The village principal 
sustains numerous relations which are official or semi-official, 
but his success therein depends very largely upon the per- 
sonal relation which he succeeds in establishing and main- 
taining. His most important relations of this sort are with 
his board, with his teachers, with the pupils, and with parents 
and patrons. There are some specific rules and tricks of the 
trade which will be given for the principal's guidance in these 
relations, but success here is in the last analysis much more 
a matter of personal than of official adjustment, and boils 
down finally to the principal's knack of getting along with 
folks. If he has this ability he will succeed. 

The knack of getting along with people is to some extent a 
gift, a matter of temperament, which one inherits. Never- 
theless it can be cultivated ; and persistent effort to acquire 
the knack will, in the long run, yield large returns. And 
there is no more important subject to which the young prin- 
cipal may turn than to self -culture along these lines. For 
his assistance, therefore, some suggestions will be offered. 

Tact and common sense are the fundamental requisites. 

Tact. — Tact we shall not undertake to define, but rather 
shall offer some advice as to how to develop it. In the first 
place, learn to know folks; especially learn to discern, or 
perhaps one should say divine, their interests and their 

39 



4o Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

motives. To this end one should mix and mingle with all 
kinds of persons and under all kinds of circumstances. The 
man who knows only teachers and professional men scarcely 
knows even them. Let the principal therefore make it a rule 
never to lose an opportunity of conversing with persons whom 
he may chance to meet. The conceited, exclusive snob shuts 
many kinds of folks out of his experience, and so shrinks his 
own personality. The more persons one knows the more of 
a person he himself becomes. Further, one should make it a 
point to study the folks he knows from various angles. In 
the schoolroom Johnnie may seem mischievous and inapt, 
and if the teacher never sees him on the ball ground he may 
never know that this same Johnnie is a born leader. Miss 
Smith in the classroom may seem phlegmatic and lacking in 
initiative, but in the home of a neighbor at a time of bereave- 
ment she may surprise you by a wholly unexpected mastery 
of the situation. Mr. Brown may seem ignorant, pessimistic, 
and visionless in the board meeting. But go hunting with 
him or discover the thwarted ambition of his youth, and you 
see a different man entirely. And so it goes. Without special 
pains we see but one side of a person's features. Further, 
cultivate a keenness for the other modes of expression besides 
the verbal. The posture of the body, the expression of the 
countenance, the gleam of the eye, the tone and modulation 
of the voice, the gesture of the hand, — all these things speak to 
one who has ears to hear far more plainly and truly than does 
the spoken word. To take people as they say is, very often, 
to take them wrongly ; but to know the thought and feeling, 
to appreciate a personality, you must read the subtler signs ; 
and this is a language far more worth studying than any of 
the ancient or modern classics. 



Relation with the Board 41 

Tact, in the second place, may be developed by cultivating 
an attitude of feeling. One must like folks if he is to treat 
them tactfully, for otherwise he cannot get their point of 
view. He must have a genuine sympathy with the interests 
and motives of those with whom he has to do. As an art 
tact is nothing more than the intelligent practice of the 
Golden Rule. Persons differ by nature with respect to this 
attitude of the heart; nevertheless it can be cultivated. It 
must be genuine, however. No counterfeit will serve. It 
can be cultivated by knowing people well, as has been sug- 
gested, for the instinct of sympathy is inherent in all of us, 
and knowledge increases it. We cannot sympathize with 
persons whom we do not know ; conversely, the better we 
know people the better we can sympathize with them. An- 
other way to cultivate genuine sympathy is persistently to 
repress the various manifestations of selfishness, for if the 
tactless person will inquire carefully into the reasons for his 
lack of tact he will be sure to find at the center of his soul a 
large core of selfishness. 

In two words, then, tact will come to the person who learns 
to know folks and to like them. 

Common Sense. — The second requisite to success in 
getting along with folks is common sense, or practical judg- 
ment. 

This gift also is to some extent temperamental and in- 
herited ; and sometimes, as in the case of Abraham Lincoln, 
amounts to unique and consummate genius. Nevertheless 
it may be cultivated. Common sense is in the first place the 
ability to see the whole of a situation, not part of it merely. 
Let the young principal ask himself when he confronts a 
practical problem: What am I overlooking? What am I 



42 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

leaving out of account? The reader will recall instances of 
mistaken judgment due to the fact that there were several 
elements in the problem, one or more of which was ignored. 
If one makes it a practice to search for the missing item, he 
will often find it and save himself a blunder. This will in- 
crease his confidence in himself and his reputation for good 
sense. 

Another reason why persons size up a situation wrongly is 
because they thrust themselves into the problem, so to speak. 
They are biased by their own feelings and interests. They 
let their desires warp their judgment. One should ask him- 
self : Am I thinking or only wishing ? That will often clarify 
the situation. 

If one can form the habit of taking a little time to deliberate 
and to ask himself these two questions, he will develop an 
increasingly sound judgment. 

The Management of the Board. — The management of his 
board is frankly set down by the wisest writers as one of the 
problems of the superintendent of schools. It sounds contra- 
dictory enough, to be sure, since the board is elected by the 
sovereign people for the express purpose of controlling the 
schools, and the authority to do so is vested in them by the 
state law. Why the management of his board is one of the 
principal's most important tasks will appear in the course of 
the chapter. 

The first element in this problem is to secure the election 
of proper persons, and the wise principal, especially if he 
remains in one place for a long period of time, can and should 
exercise some influence in this matter ; but there is no point 
at which a more judicious use of common sense is necessary 
than in the principal's efforts to shape his own board. Ob- 



Relation with the Board 43 

viously he must never put himself in the position of having 
opposed a successful candidate for the office. On the other 
hand there are times when he should openly oppose the re- 
election of a bad member, bad in the sense of being demon- 
strably immoral or dishonest. But there are ways of sug- 
gesting at proper times and places the type of man likely to 
make a good board member, and even of influencing the 
appearance of a candidate in the field. Of these measures 
the skillful principal gradually becomes master ; but to tell 
how he does it, much less to tell somebody else how to do it, 
would be beyond him. 

There are several outstanding characteristics of the good 
board member. In the first place he should be a person of 
large administrative experience. Business or professional 
people who have succeeded in a large way have usually had 
such experience ; but it will usually not be found in persons 
who have managed little affairs, in subordinates, in failures, 
or in persons retired from business. They are accustomed to 
receive orders rather than to give them, are unused to the 
handling of large sums of money, or have developed traits 
of personality that are objectionable. It may be seriously 
questioned, however, whether it is entirely democratic to 
have the schools of all the people represented only by the 
heaviest taxpayers of the community. The retired farmer 
is proverbially a burden to the school board of the small 
rural village. The usefulness of women will depend largely 
upon their breadth of vision. There is probably no larger 
opportunity for usefulness for the mature woman of intelli- 
gence, education, sympathy, and broad outlook upon life. 
They are often, however, too much accustomed to consider- 
ing the details of handling children, and so little accustomed 



44 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

to administering large business affairs that it is difficult for 
them to adopt the administrative point of view. 

A second qualification for a good school board member is 
sincerity, in the sense of honesty, and a genuine desire to 
serve the community. The welfare of the school is the only 
consideration that should figure in the mind of the board 
member. Men who are likely to use the office for political 
purposes or for other selfish ends should be avoided. If the 
director is dishonest, the principal should oppose him pub- 
licly as soon as he can secure positive evidence of his guilt. 
In the third place, the more education the school board 
member has the better. It often happens that a town which 
contains numerous college graduates, who possess the other 
requisite qualifications, elects some hail-fellow-well-met whose 
education has never carried him through the third grade. 
Obviously, this is a misfortune to the community. The 
fourth qualification is liberal acquaintance with human 
nature and affairs. This implies a reasonable degree of 
maturity. 

The Limitations of the Board's Functions. — One of the 
most troublesome difficulties with which the village principal 
has to contend is the failure of his board members to under- 
stand where their duties and responsibilities leave off and 
his begin. This naturally results in a tendency on their part 
to interfere with matters that they should leave strictly to 
the principal himself. It is not easy to draw with exactness 
the line of demarcation. In general the duties of the board 
are legislative while those of the principal are executive. 
The general policy of the school should be outlined by the 
principal but authorized by the board. The principal should 
then be intrusted with the carrying out of that policy and 



Relation with the Board 45 

the execution of its details. Expenditures are usually sug- 
gested by the principal, but must always be authorized by 
the board. The division of responsibility can be illustrated 
by the analogy of a hospital. The board of trustees would 
determine the budget, employ the administrative officer, and 
specify some general rules such as the kind of cases to be 
handled and the fees to be charged, but it would be absurd 
for them to meddle with the professional work of the doctors 
and nurses. It is equally absurd, or should be, for the direc- 
tors of a school to interfere in the professional duties of the 
teachers, such as the selection of textbooks, materials, or 
apparatus, or the determining of the course of study, methods 
of instruction, or the discipline. 

Theisen specifies the following as, in the order given, the 
most important duties of the school board : 

1. To select the superintendent and then support him. 

2. To pass upon the annual budget. 

3. To debate and pass upon the recommendations of the 
superintendent for additional capital outlay. 

4. To advise with the chief executive, affording a group 
judgment, on his recommendations for extensions or readjust- 
ments of the scope of educational activities. 

5. To appoint teachers and other employees upon recom- 
mendation and nomination by the superintendent. 

6. To determine salaries, after consultation with the super- 
intendent. 

7. To require and consider reports of business transacted 
or pending, and the financial status of the system. 

8. To require and discuss reports of the superintendent con- 
cerning progress of schools — in terms of achievements of 
pupils and teachers. 



46 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

There are two reasons why school boards should confine 
themselves for the most part to such duties as these. The 
first is that by meddling with technical matters, such as in- 
struction, discipline, and selection of textbooks or other equip- 
ment, they rob themselves and their school of the expert 
service they have paid a high price for ; as if one should 
employ a physician and then meddle with his treatment of 
the patient. The second reason is that they rob themselves 
of their own time necessary to an adequate consideration of 
the problems for which they really are responsible. 

This division of responsibility is based upon the necessity 
for both popular control and expert teaching. The people, 
through their board, must control the general policy of the 
school, but the details of the educational work are, or should 
be, expert. With respect to these the board is supposed to 
have neither knowledge nor skill. The board should make 
sure that they have employed an educational expert, and 
then keep hands off, for the good of the school. However, 
for the average village school and school board, this condi- 
tion undoubtedly is far in the future. And perhaps the 
chief reason why this is so is that, as a matter of fact, the 
principal and the teachers have usually been young and in- 
experienced, and really as far from experts as the board 
members themselves. The fundamental cure for this defect 
is, of course, salary. It may be well to suggest, therefore, 
that the young principal should be more keen about making 
himself a genuine expert than about demanding the rights 
of an expert. Meantime, however, it is proper that he should, 
in a tactful way, educate his board as to the limitations of 
their own responsibility, and lead them to see that they can 
serve the schools best by limiting themselves to such activities 



Relation with the Board 47 

as really belong to them. The experience of the authors 
would indicate that the earlier a professionally ambitious 
young principal asserts himself the earlier his board will 
accord to him a professional status. In the education of 
their boards many principals have found it profitable to put 
into the hands of each of their board members, at their own 
expense, some good educational periodical, such as The 
American School Board Journal. It is also well to induce 
one or more of them to attend the State Association. 

The Board Meeting. — The practice of the boards with 
respect to their meetings varies widely in different villages. 
In the larger places it is customary for the board to hold 
regular meetings at least once a month, following a regular 
order of business and keeping exact records. At these meet- 
ings the superintendent is expected to be present as a matter 
both of right and of duty. At the other extreme are the 
boards of the small rural places that never have any regular 
meetings, and, in some places, scarcely any meetings at all. 
The work of the board is done in an informal way, for per- 
sonal convenience, between the members or between the 
principal and the members, perhaps one at a time, as they 
meet on the street corner or at the post office. Sometimes 
a single member of the board takes matters into his own 
hands, and authorizes or instructs the principal, or even 
makes contracts. It may be noted in passing that there is 
really no legal validity back of business transacted in this 
way, but only when business is concluded by a vote of the 
board in formal session. Of course when business is done 
in this haphazard way no records at all are kept. Practice 
varies between these two extremes. It is the duty of the 
principal to take his board wherever he finds it, and bring it 



48 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

up, through tact and common sense, as far as he can toward 
the upper level. This duty deserves emphasis. He should 
secure meetings of the board with as much regularity and par- 
liamentary form as are practicable under the circumstances. 
He should be present at the meetings of the board. But this 
will sometimes require management. One village principal, 
for instance, was given distinctly to understand when em- 
ployed that his predecessor had been discharged because he 
insisted upon being present at all the board meetings ; and 
the new man was explicitly notified that the board meetings 
were not his affairs and he was to stay away. This man, 
however, was patient, tactful, and modest, and before the 
lapse of many months the board invited him to appear at 
one of the meetings for some special reason ; and before the 
end of his principalship in that school he was a regular and 
welcome attendant at the board meetings. 

The Principal's Policy. — There is but one reason why the 
principal should lead his board, and that is that he as an 
educational expert may formulate and cause to be carried 
out a policy for the school that will be both wise and pro- 
gressive. Someone has described this matter of policy 
building as the laying of an educational track into the future. 
It is here that the principal's professional insight and fore- 
sight ought to be of the most value to the community which 
he serves ; and the young man who can muster the patience 
to work out and carry out a wise and farsighted policy, ex- 
tending through a term of years, will certainly be rewarded 
by the ample satisfaction of his altruistic instinct, for he will 
thereby render the community a large and permanent service. 
There is probably no surer way, moreover, of laying the 
foundation for a professional career. In the matter of in- 



Relation with the Board 49 

ducing his board to put the policy into execution the prin- 
cipal must remember that Rome was not built in a day. 
Infinite patience will be required. Many temporary defeats 
and backsets will be experienced. Progress will be made a 
step at a time, and occasionally in the attempt to mount 
two or three steps higher, one or two slips downward may 
intervene. But always, through success or failure, the prin- 
cipal is educating his board and his public; and when one 
gain has been made the next will thereby be made more 
easily, until ultimately the lapse of years will reveal net 
gains that are gratifying and valuable. Meantime the 
principal's own goal has been moved on a little farther ahead 
than it was before. Thus, step by step, the school advances. 
The young principal can make no greater mistake than to 
fail to appreciate the good qualities of his board members. 
There is scarcely any school board but has on it at least 
one or two men of sound judgment, good business experience, 
and progressive aims. The young principal should show 
respect and appreciation for such men. He may be better 
schooled and cleverer than they; but such men may have 
richer experience and riper judgment. The wise principal 
knows how to tie to them, to learn administrative wisdom 
from them, and, above all, to use them to influence the other 
members of the board. This is probably the most valuable 
advice that can be given the young principal so far as the 
leadership of his board is concerned. 

REFERENCES 

Bruce, W. C. (Editor). The American School Board Journal. 
A monthly journal devoted to the interests and problems of the school 
board. Every issue contains articles pertinent to the subject of 



50 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

this chapter. The principal should not only read this paper but 
see that his board reads it. Published at Milwaukee. 
Chancellor, W. E. Our Schools: Their Administration and Supervision. 
One of the books every principal should own. Chapter II is on "The 
Board of Education." It discusses the city situation, but is never- 
theless suggestive to the village principal. 
Cubberley, E. P. Public School Administration. 

Chapters VIII, IX, and XI treat on the subject of this chapter. 
Dutton, S. T., and Snedden, D. S. The Administration of Education 
in the United States. 
Chapter IX is short and to the point, and has an extensive bibliography 
appended. 
Elliott, E. C. City School Supervision. 

A constructive study applied to New York City. 
Hollister, H. A. The Administration of Education in a Democracy. 

Chapter VII discusses the Board of Education. 
Theisen, W. W. The City Superintendent and the Board of Education. 
The greatest study of its kind that has ever been published. 



CHAPTER V 
THE PRINCIPAL AND HIS TEACHERS 

In the principal's official-personal relation with his teachers 
two chief aims are involved : first, the selection of teachers, 
and, secondly, the improvement of teachers in the service. 

The Selection of Teachers. — The principal should be 
intrusted with the selection of all teachers and held respon- 
sible for their success or failure. Nominations to the board 
should be made by the principal, for the reason that the 
choice of teachers is expert service, and because the principal 
is dependent upon his teachers for the development of his 
policies. However, the legal authority for the employment 
of teachers is with the board. 

In order to assure the selection of good teachers it is neces- 
sary, in the first place, that the board shall offer such condi- 
tions as will attract good teachers. To this end the principal 
should first of all induce his board to offer the highest salaries 
practicable. He should see to it that favoritism, politics, and 
whimsical considerations are eliminated from the choice of 
teachers, and that security in office and promotion in pay 
are proportionate to efficiency. To the degree in which he 
can build up for the school a reputation for these attractions 
he will find it easy to secure good teachers. In the second 
place, he should have clearly in his mind the qualifications 
necessary for the position he wishes to fill, as, for example, 
sex, professional training, or social gifts. Then it is more 

si 



52 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

satisfactory to seek the teacher than to take the teachers 
who seek the school. This will not always be practicable and 
will sometimes be limited to requisitions upon normal schools 
or agencies ; but the ideal method is for the principal, by 
visitation and inquiry among his professional associates, to 
find the teachers he wants. Testimonials should be taken 
with a grain of salt, especially if they are furnished by the 
applicant or secured from references whom the applicant 
designates. In such cases it is pretty safe to assume that 
the testimonial has been written by a friend who wishes to 
assist the applicant in securing a position. This means that 
the principal must read between the lines. What the letter 
omits to say about the applicant is usually more significant 
than what it does say. For instance, the applicant is in- 
experienced, flippant, and inattentive to business. The testi- 
monial asserts that she is attractive in appearance, vivacious 
in deportment, brilliant in intellect, and a fair student. The 
principal who fails to see the holes in such a recommendation 
has nobody to blame but himself. It is better for the prin- 
cipal to solicit letters from mutual acquaintances of himself 
and the applicant, but who have not been nominated by 
the candidate. 

The personality of the teacher, as well as various other 
matters, can be determined only by an interview ; and the 
principal should have little difficulty in showing his board 
that the superintendents of larger towns near by are always 
sent by their board to interview prospective teachers. Per- 
sonal interviews, however, have their snares and pitfalls. 
Even the most experienced administrators overestimate 
ridiculously their own ability to size up a candidate during 
a few minutes' interview under artificial circumstances. An 



The Principal and his Teachers 53 

attractive young woman is apt to turn the head of any mere 
man, even if he is a young principal just out of college. The 
teacher should be seen at work, under normal conditions, by 
a man who is master of the technique of the teacher's art. 
She should be appraised from the standpoint of the principles 
of that technique, and the symptoms of her mastery of them 
closely observed. How do the lines move? How does she 
ask questions? Does the moral atmosphere of her room 
indicate a cheerful respect for her authority? Are the desks 
free from rubbish and tidily arranged? Such inquiries as 
these should supplement the employer's estimate of the 
candidate's personality and his inquiries about her character 
and success. 

Preparatory to each annual election of teachers it will be 
necessary to decide which members of the teaching force are 
to be nominated for reelection. With this in view it is well 
for the principal to devise some systematic method of apprais- 
ing teachers. In harmony with the measurement mode now 
in vogue it would be desirable to have a score card for es- 
timating teachers' efficiency. The pedagogical literature of 
the day contains many suggestions as to how to make and 
use such a card. Of these it will perhaps be sufficient to 
refer the reader to the Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 3, 
191 1, pp. 139 ff. See also Figure 19, Chapter XV. If a 
score card is used, whether of the principal's own devising 
or one taken from some other source, it will be well to use it 
as a check upon, and not as a substitute for, his common-sense 
estimate of the candidate. Permit teachers to see their own 
score cards from time to time, and, if their records indicate 
that they are likely to fail of reelection, induce them to resign 
in advance. 



54 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Getting rid of unsatisfactory teachers is sometimes a diffi- 
cult and delicate matter. The principal should always be 
prepared to specify definitely and abundantly the short- 
comings which necessitate discharging the teacher, and the 
more completely he has the confidence of the board and the 
more fully he has informed them with respect to the affairs 
of the school, the more satisfactorily such experiences will 
terminate for him. In this unpleasant task there is always 
call for the exercise of humane consideration. If a young 
woman is a failure in the schoolroom it would be the mag- 
nanimous thing to help her find herself in some other work. 
The fact that she has proved a misfit in one school may not 
preclude her succeeding elsewhere. She may have learned 
her lesson. While a principal should never compromise 
himself, of course, in the recommendations which he proffers 
to other superintendents and school boards, nevertheless 
there are innumerable ways of disposing of unsatisfactory 
teachers that will not blast their opportunities to try again 
elsewhere. 

Improvement of Teachers in the Service. — For the im- 
provement of teachers in the service numerous devices have 
been in use. The teachers' institute was devised in the days 
when untrained teachers were the rule. In lieu of a thorough 
course of training a few days or weeks of cramming on peda- 
gogical platitudes, together with a hasty review of the com- 
mon branches, was supposed to be better than nothing. The 
best writers now condemn the institute as utterly inadequate 
and out of date. The up-to-date substitute is the summer 
school. In some states teachers are virtually compelled to 
attend summer schools, at least occasionally, in order to 
secure the renewal of their certificates. The practice should 



The Principal and his Teachers 55 

become general. Principals and boards may well exert a 
little gentle pressure, or even offer some material incentive, 
to secure the attendance of their teachers at the summer 
sessions of normal schools, colleges, or universities. 

Every person who takes his profession seriously must do 
systematic professional reading. Very few have the self- 
control to keep up such study without some incentive, such 
as working toward a degree, registering for a correspondence 
course, keeping ahead of a class, or meeting with a group to 
work on some regular schedule. Teachers' reading circles 
lend themselves to the last named incentive, and the prin- 
cipal who has tact and leadership to interest his subordinates 
in keeping up the reading is to be congratulated. 

Visiting other schools is an approved means of stimulating 
teachers to better work, and it is quite customary to give 
teachers time for this purpose. Obviously, however, this 
may readily degenerate into a mere holiday, unless precau- 
tions are observed. A master of the technique of teaching 
can suggest to his teachers what to look for in the work of 
other teachers; and a critical discussion upon return will 
then prove useful. By letting his teachers visit each other 
a principal can, if he is tactful, utilize the excellences of any 
member of his corps as a model for all the rest. One of the 
authors once had an intermediate teacher who was almost a 
failure. Just as he was at his wits' end to know what to do 
with her, the state inspector visited the school. He was 
delighted with what he saw in the primary room, but had 
scarcely stepped into the intermediate room when he whis- 
pered: " What's the matter here?" After watching the 
teacher for a few minutes he remarked : " Have her visit 
Miss Blank in the other room." The hint of that wise old 



56 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

school man has never been forgotten, and has often been 
followed to great advantage. 

An important opportunity for the exercise of professional 
leadership is in the teachers' meetings. This should be an 
occasion not only for discussing the concrete problems of the 
school but also a time for inspiration and instruction. With 
this end in view it is important that necessary business be 
conducted promptly and expeditiously. Begin on time and 
adjourn on time. The principal should preside, but he should 
encourage free discussion, and should be very careful not to 
give the impression that frank expression of opinion is dan- 
gerous. A professional program will often prove profitable. 
It may be based on some course of reading or study more or 
less extended, or involve reviews of new books or current 
educational magazines. Teachers may prepare papers on 
various subjects related to their work and calculated to 
dignify it by deeper insight. If the principal is sufficiently 
superior in training and efficiency he might undertake some 
overt instruction of a technical sort. Sometimes the faculty 
meeting may well give place to a meeting of teachers for 
strictly social purposes. It is a fact of profound importance 
that people work together better if they have occasionally 
played together. The principal's home should occasionally 
be the place of such gatherings. 

Supervision. — The most vital means of improving teachers 
in the service is expert supervision. This work is usually 
neglected or bungled in the ordinary village school. And as 
a rule it may be scamped without the board or the public 
rinding it out. That is because our schools are as yet in 
such an unprofessional stage of their development. But 
there is no more certain or necessary way for a young prin- 



The Principal and his Teachers 57 

cipal to assure his professional future than to make himself 
master of the art of supervision. This is not the place for 
instruction in that art, for the simple reason that it involves 
a thorough knowledge of the entire technique of pedagogy. 
The first thing, therefore, for the principal to do, unless he 
has had a good normal training, is to get the proper books 
and begin a thorough study of them. And even if he is a 
normal school graduate he will make a mistake if he neglects 
grinding and persistent review. Principals who are college 
graduates and who have had some work in pedagogy will dis- 
cover in most cases that their training was largely abstract. 
While history and principles of education, psychology, and 
sociology are indispensable as a liberal foundation for the 
profession, they are by no means a substitute for the concrete 
technique of elementary and secondary teaching. The latter 
must be mastered, and the sooner the novitiate undertakes 
the task the better. 1 

The principal should avoid the snare of considering himself 
primarily a high school teacher. However important that 
work is, he is primarily principal, and his own as well as the 
school's interests demand that he put supervision first. To 
this end he should, whenever practicable, put some elementary 
teaching on his daily schedule. He should aim to become 
ultimately an expert teacher in any department, as efficient 
with a first-grade phonic drill or sixth-grade history lesson 
as with a high school class in economics or physics. Not 
otherwise can he become a thoroughly competent supervisor. 
He will then be in a position to demonstrate to a weak teacher 
by taking the class himself for a day or two. There is really 

1 The reader is referred to Chapter XVII for a brief discussion of the 
technique of teaching, and a list of necessary books for further study. 



58 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

no good reason except tradition why the principal of the 
whole system should teach in the high school. If we were 
only accustomed to it the strongest teacher, anywhere in the 
system, could administer and supervise the whole school. 
The war will probably result in more and more women being 
employed as principals. In that case an experienced woman 
who is doing good work in the primary, intermediate, or 
grammar grades, and who shows administrative ability, could 
be intrusted with the principalship without transferring her 
from the grade where she is teaching. 

An absolutely essential secret of success in supervision is 
the existence of satisfactory personal relations between the 
principal and his teachers. Without this he can do nothing. 
There are two chief reasons for this. In the first place the 
principal's official superiority in small village schools is 
usually precarious, and his actual personal superiority is 
sometimes meager indeed. Obviously, therefore, he can, 
where official superiority is dubious, lead only by sheer force 
of efficiency, personality, and good will. In the second place, 
successful teaching depends upon the state of mind. Dis- 
couragement and doubt make failure probable, but a feeling 
of self-confidence and mastery presages success. Not only 
so, but true teaching involves stimulating pupils to mental 
initiative and self-reliance ; and this the teacher cannot do 
without a feeling of freedom, self-direction, and consciousness 
of personal achievement. Unless the principal can secure 
this state of mind he can never be a leader. But it can be 
done ! Bagley advises the young teacher that one of the 
best ways of escape from the worries incident to the teaching 
profession is to have some older and more experienced fellow 
teacher to whom one can go for advice and consolation. If 



The Principal and his Teachers 59 

the principal can establish such a relation as this between 
himself and his inexperienced subordinates he may feel that 
his professional selfhood is satisfactorily in the making. For 
this is prerequisite. Let him, therefore, establish such re- 
lations as early as possible, but move forward with caution 
until they are achieved. 

Various Administrative Relations. — It is important that 
the teacher be strengthened in her position before her own 
room by the attitude of her superior. It goes without saying 
that the teacher should never be criticized in the presence of 
the children. It may seem a small matter for the principal 
to enter one of the grade rooms and proceed to speak to the 
children or to call out a pupil without first addressing the 
teacher and asking her permission, but proper courtesy in 
such small matters as this will profoundly affect the chil- 
dren's attitude toward the teacher and augment her authority 
in her own domain. 

As far as possible the principal should protect his teachers 
from interference on the part of parents. It is well to develop 
the impression in their minds that they must deal with him. 
One of the most difficult positions in which the principal can 
find himself is that of having to defend a teacher from the 
attacks, sometimes wholly unwarranted, of the patrons ; but 
this he must not shirk. Mere gallantry, as well as profes- 
sional ethics, will also dictate that he relieve his teachers of 
the more difficult and disagreeable features of discipline. On 
the other hand, the principal has a right to expect and de- 
mand the personal loyalty of his teachers. If he is not 
worthy of it he should be dismissed. The teacher who does 
not give it should be dismissed. 

It is also a settled principle of school administration that 



60 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

teachers should communicate with the board through the 
principal. If conditions become intolerable with a teacher 
(or a group of teachers), she may take matters into her own 
hands and appeal directly to the board ; but that implies 
an extreme lack of confidence, and should lead to the resig- 
nation either of the principal or of the teacher. The prin- 
cipal on his part, however, must beware of creating the 
impression with his teachers that they communicate through 
him with his wastebasket rather than with his board. 

In the appraisal of the teacher's work for purposes of super- 
vision the initial problem is to discover precisely where her 
weak points are. The principal should not undertake this 
analysis in any offhand, general-impression, guesswork 
fashion. He should instead tabulate or outline the funda- 
mentals of technique and keep a record of the teacher's 
strong and weak points, based upon his observations. At 
first he will do well to have such outline or table on paper. 
Eventually it will become second nature to him. Mean- 
time he can use it to supervise himself as well as his teachers. 

It would be extreme to declare that the principal should 
never criticize, but such an extreme statement might serve 
to emphasize the fact that criticism should be the exception. 
It is sometimes necessary, and is especially useful if it can 
be given early in the career of the inexperienced teacher, in 
order to save her from habituating something in manner or 
voice that will prove a handicap. Some teachers of long 
experience are even more in need of it, but, of course, after 
the synapses are hardened such a surgical operation becomes 
exceedingly delicate and the shock severe. Let the principal 
exercise extreme caution, therefore, in administering criticism. 
Let him be absolutely certain that he is right therein, and 



The Principal and his Teachers 61 

that the case is sufficiently important to render it necessary. 
Little faults are sometimes left behind in the general progress 
of a growing teacher. If criticism is offered let it be con- 
structive, definite, and usually positive, so that the teacher 
will not fail to understand precisely what is meant. Above 
all let him be sympathetic. 

Instructions to teachers should be definite, specific, and 
thoroughly understood. Generalities, such as, mend your 
ways, get better results, teach grammar better, are usually 
worse than useless. Specify definitely what is the precise 
change expected ; illustrate, explain, and demonstrate ; and 
persist until the improvement is effected. If the personal 
relation has been kindly the teacher herself should find satis- 
faction in the improvement. But be careful not to swamp 
her with too many suggestions at once ; give each suggestion 
time to become habituated. 

Professional Inspiration. — The most essential of all the 
supervisory functions is that of inspiration, and this cannot 
be accomplished except by radiation. Unless the principal 
himself is an efficient, enthusiastic teacher, a teacher of 
teachers, with high professional ideals, keen educational in- 
sight, and a mastery of professional technique, he cannot hope 
to succeed. 

If the dominant educational theory of the time is correct, 
the most precious jewel in the personality of the teacher is 
initiative. Dewey contends that if democracy is to solve 
the problems arising out of the complexity of the modern 
social, industrial, and political order it can be only by culti- 
vating in the rising generation what he calls the " creative 
attitude " or " problem-solving disposition." How can this 
be expected from teachers who are nothing more than obedient 



62 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

imitators and gradgrinds ? Or how can we expect from such 
teachers a progressive, ever improving school? No principal, 
however well trained or brilliant, can expect to think of all the 
good things worth thinking of. The teacher who has some- 
thing to suggest, or some variation to initiate, is worth culti- 
vating. This is a policy that is now carefully cultivated in 
many of the most progressive manufacturing concerns. Have 
a mortal dread of turning such a teacher down. Unless her 
novel venture is subversive of well-established principles let 
her try it out. Give her a fair chance to demonstrate whether 
she is a reformer or a mere dreamer of vagaries. Of course 
the latter cannot long be tolerated. It is the suppression of 
time-proven faults in teaching, not the suppression of brains, 
that is wanted. Democracy is in the air. Supervisors are 
employed not to discipline their teachers but to help them 
acquire the technique approved by generations of experience. 
The compromise that a principal arrives at between the 
horns of this dilemma will depend upon his temperament, 
his common sense, and his own professional enlightenment. 

REFERENCES 

The books on school administration contain discussions of supervision. 
The files of the standard educational magazines for the last two or three 
years also contain many good articles. 



CHAPTER VI 
PUPILS, PARENTS, AND PUBLIC 



Attention to Individual Needs. — The principal should give 
especial attention to the individual needs of his pupils. The 
wise principal will hasten to establish as soon as possible 
pleasant personal relations between himself and all his pupils. 
It often happens that a pupil's first personal contact with the 
principal is of the unpleasant sort incident to discipline. 
Such an experience naturally prejudices the pupil against 
the principal and interferes with the educative process. On 
the other hand, if the boy knows the principal through some 
form of social contact, the disciplinary session is smoothed out 
in advance. This is the point of view from which the principal 
should approach every youngster in town. To this end it is 
necessary that he should know his pupils thoroughly. He 
cannot deal successfully with them in a mass ; he must deal 
with them as individuals. In order to establish such relations 
with his pupils he should make a special effort to be com- 
panionable; he should make every effort to secure their 
confidence, never losing an opportunity for conversation and 
informal private interviews. It is well for him to keep closely 
in touch with their sports, sometimes participating in them. 
This attitude will, perhaps, be less difficult for a man of mature 
years, who is himself the father of adolescent sons and daugh- 
ters. The young man must try to remember how it feels to 
be in his teens and how a father would feel towards boys and 

63 



64 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

girls who are in their teens. Such advice as this is somewhat 
trite ; however, it is valuable. 

Psychological and Medical Clinics. — In addition to all 
this the principal should have such knowledge of individuals 
as can be obtained only by a medical examination or a psy- 
chological clinic. While this is not as a rule possible in a small 
school, it nevertheless suggests the ideal toward which the 
principal should aim. He should try to avail himself of some 
form of medical inspection, particularly in some cases, and 
he should make himself as rapidly as possible a psychologist, 
capable of conducting a clinic. In illustration of the impor- 
tance of this scientific aid in knowing individuals, many in- 
stances might be cited. In one case a boy was found to be 
practically incorrigible and was judged to be a candidate for 
the house of correction. However, a dentist discovered that 
his condition was due to the deformities of his teeth, which he 
was able to correct. Another boy was found upon psycholog- 
ical examination to be of good mind, despite the superficial 
indications to the contrary. His bad disposition was found 
upon investigation to be due to prenatal influences. His 
parents were aware of the facts in the case ; but they did not 
realize that the facts were the cause of the trouble. The 
teacher was able to secure a more intelligent sympathy on 
the part of the parents which helped to solve the problem. 
The principal should secure a thorough knowledge of his pupil's 
heredity and environment, both mental and physical. Often 
a visit to a boy's home would change the principal's point of 
view entirely. Perhaps the majority of the pupils under a 
principal's care may need no special attention, though one 
girl who had been in a large high school for four years is 
reported to have said that she felt like doing something 



Pupils, Parents, and Public 65 

desperate just for the sake of having a personal conversation 
with the principal. But there are some individuals who are 
very much in need of personal attention, especially those who 
come from unfavorable home surroundings, those who have 
some deformity or defect, or those who have special talents 
or ambitions. The service that a sympathetic, thoughtful 
principal can render in such cases is often invaluable. 

Vocational Guidance. — A special field in which the principal 
may be of particular assistance to his pupils is that of voca- 
tional guidance. There are a great many young people, 
especially in the small villages and rural communities, who 
have never had an adequate opportunity of rinding out what 
a great variety of vocations there are, nor had their ambitions 
stimulated to aspire to anything beyond their narrow horizon. 
To show such young persons what the opportunities for a life 
work are is an inestimable service. With this in view the 
principal should read as extensively as he has time along the 
lines of vocational guidance. A recent book on that subject 
which many principals will find useful is Occupation, by 
Gowin and Wheatley (Ginn & Co.). Another equally im- 
portant field for personal guidance by the principal is that of 
character formation. It is all too common for young men and 
women to gravitate to low ideals and sordid, sensuous living. 
In many cases this is due to the sheer narrowness of their 
horizon. They are merely copying the only mature persons 
they have seen. If they could be shown how the other half 
live, the better half, it would often change the direction 
of their lives. Too often there is nobody to do this for them 
but the principal and his corps of teachers. 

Any school man of long experience can give numerous 
instances of what a little personal attention can do for a boy 



66 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

or a girl. For example, a boy from a family of unskilled 
laborers of low ideals and narrow horizon is directed into the 
ministry ; another boy, unusually talented, who has worked his 
way through school and is about to give up the struggle for 
higher education, is secured a little assistance and becomes a 
useful college professor; a girl is shown the possibilities of 
rural school teaching and becomes a community leader ; such 
are the stars in the principal's crown. 

The Importance of Personality. — The secret of doing this 
kind of work successfully is to a very large degree the prin- 
cipal's own personality. Someone has said that " a keen sense 
of right and wrong, a sensitive conscience, a consecrated spirit 
of service, a perception of the infinite possibilities of other 
lives, a feeling of love and reverence for the Supreme Being," 
are necessary to the equipment of a great teacher. Without 
such a personality no principal can properly influence boys 
and girls. Fortunate indeed is the man or woman who can 
look back on several years of intimate association with such a 
personality. Often the destructive influence of a bad home or 
a bad environment or a limited outlook upon life has been 
successfully counteracted by such a teacher. On the other 
hand a child remembers the uncertain and hypocritical acts 
of an insincere teacher for years ; and it kills all the good 
influence of his personality. Children are almost infallible 
judges of motives, especially if they are associated with one 
for a long time ; and the only way to secure and keep a child's 
confidence and respect is to show him slowly but surely that 
one is sincere and genuinely devoted to the welfare of his 
pupils. 

A common mistake in trying to understand other people 
is to judge others by ourselves. Nothing is surer to blind one 



Pupils, Parents, and Public 67 

to individual differences. Children are not like their teachers, 
nor like each other. Some are motor minded, some are 
image thinkers, and others conceptual thinkers. There is the 
plodder, the dullard, the sentimental and emotional, and the 
unawakened ; and it is only by making a study of these 
differences that one can become a master of the situation. 

The successful teacher or principal must be a man of vision, 
one who can see great possibilities in even the dirtiest, ragged- 
est, and most uninviting pupils of his school. He little real- 
izes how soon these boys will be lawyers, doctors, ministers, or 
business men, whose services he himself may be glad to seek. 
It often happens that a teacher is able to see no good in a 
pupil. Only a few years ago a boy was forced out of school 
because every teacher he ever had discouraged him and 
recognized in him no ability of any kind. To-day he is leader 
of a municipal band in one of our large cities, drawing a 
salary far in excess of the salaries of his former pedagogues. 

Acquaintance with Parents. — It is also important that the 
principal should be intimately acquainted with the parents 
and patrons as well as with the pupils, the chief reason being 
to secure their hearty cooperation, which is so desirable on 
behalf of the children. The principal should, therefore, keep 
the parents as well informed as possible as to what the children 
are doing at school. This can be done in part through the 
monthly report blanks. There is danger, however, that these 
report blanks may never come to the attention of the parents, 
especially in those cases where it is most desirable that they 
should. The teacher should take particular pains that pupils 
do not trick him at this point. If the report blank has no 
other effect than to educate a youngster in dishonesty, lying, 
and even forgery, it misses its mark, to express the matter 



6S Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

very mildly indeed. It may be necessary for the teacher to 
have the bona fide signatures of the parents on file in his office ; 
and it will not be amiss for him to call up by telephone or even 
visit the parents in cases where he is suspicious that the 
reports are not being delivered. If he is tactful in these 
interviews the facts can be brought to light apparently upon 
the parent's inquiry rather than the teacher's initiative. 

This suggests that visiting the homes of his pupils is an 
important part of the teacher's and even the principal's duty. 
There is as much reason for the teacher as for the minister 
to make pastoral calls. This practice is systematically carried 
out by the most thorough and progressive principals in small 
villages. A visit to a youngster's home often establishes the 
most satisfactory personal relations between a teacher and 
pupil, — a thing that can sometimes be achieved in no other 
way. 

It is important, also, to induce the parents to visit the school 
and see it in operation. This can be accomplished to some 
extent by inviting the parents personally to visit it at their 
own convenience. Visiting day is sometimes held to advan- 
tage. Those who have used it report that this is a fairly 
successful way of securing the attendance of that class of 
parents whose attendance is, on account of their reticence, 
the hardest to secure. 

The Parent-Teachers' League. — But perhaps the most 
essential device of all for securing cooperation of the patrons 
and the school is through the Parent-Teachers' League. Most 
readers are, no doubt, more or less familiar with this institution, 
which has now a national organization with a state president 
in almost every state. The principal can no doubt learn from 
the county superintendent who the state president is, and by 



Pupils, Parents, and Public 69 

corresponding with him learn the details of effecting a local 
organization. For the benefit of those who may not be 
familiar with the Parent-Teachers' League a few words of 
description will be sufficient to enable a resourceful principal 
to get the organization started in his own school. There 
should be a president, secretary-treasurer, and an executive, 
or program, committee. This organization can be effected 
at a meeting of the patrons called for the purpose. The 
programs should consist of short talks, followed by dis- 
cussions, if the people will participate therein. Patrons can 
always be found who will make such talks. As often as there 
is opportunity speakers may be brought in from out of town. 
The program should include as a rule an informal social hour, 
usually with light refreshments. It helps in securing attend- 
ance to have a banner that can be awarded the room that is 
represented at the Parent-Teachers' meeting by the most 
parents. The management of the association should appar- 
ently be in the hands of the patrons ; but the teachers must, of 
course, stand ready behind the scenes to keep everything 
moving with snap and interest. The Parent-Teachers' 
League is destined to enjoy a considerable development. It 
should acquire a legal status in school organization, and out 
of it there should grow an advisory board of education to 
serve as a medium for the functioning of public opinion. 

The Irate Parent. — One of the most difficult problems for 
the principal to handle is the irate parent. When this speci- 
men of the human species breaks into the superintendent's 
office for a characteristic interview, he should never be 
allowed to remain standing, but should be insistently invited 
to take a seat. Psychology teaches that the physical attitude 
affects the state of mind. Now the physical attitude that 



70 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

naturally accompanies a stormy interview, is, of course, to 
stand ; and to stand, as anger grows, nearer and nearer to 
the object of anger. In extreme instances the fists are clenched 
and the head thrust forward. The irate visitor is half beaten 
in advance when he has been seated in a reclining posture in a 
comfortable chair some ten feet distant from the superintend- 
ent, who leans comfortably back in his own chair behind his 
desk. If the principal is a man of affairs as well as a pedagogue 
he will have met the parents of his pupils at the lodge, club, 
or church and thus have the advantage of an established 
acquaintance and confidence. Most of the disagreeable 
experiences between parent and principal arise through lack 
of acquaintance, and might have been avoided had these 
two been previously brought together in some field of activity 
outside the school. 

The Value of Public Approval. — There are several other 
reasons why the principal should be on intimate and friendly 
terms with as large as possible a proportion of his constituency. 
In the first place he should know what they think about the 
school, and what they think the school ought to do for them 
and their children. The wise principal is always on the look- 
out for suggestions from his patrons as to how the school can 
be improved. It is but bigotry and conceit to imagine that 
the commonest laborer in the community, or the most con- 
servative grandfather, has nothing whatever to contribute to 
the principal's stock of ideas. If respectful search for the 
opinion of such persons does nothing more it keeps the principal 
in close, sympathetic touch with the people's opinion ; and 
that is important. In the second place, the friendship of the 
people is an inestimable asset to the school man when his 
time of need comes, for come at last it is always bound to do. 



Pupils, Parents, and Public 71 

One or two disgruntled patrons can always gather around them 
a small but perhaps increasing circle of sympathizers; and 
in the course of years it is almost unavoidable that the principal 
most offend a considerable number of his patrons. Finally the 
clouds of disapproval lower in the west, and school boards too 
often deem it wise to seek shelter in a change of administration. 
At such a time as this the principal is safest who has the 
largest number of personal friends who believe in his sincere 
devotion to their children and to the school. 

The Making of Public Opinion. — The village principal is 
in a public station, and he holds a relation to the public like 
that of no one else in the community. This is especially true 
in European villages, and will be increasingly so here as this 
country grows older and the professional status of teaching 
more developed and recognized. The principal is a maker of 
public opinion, and if he is of the caliber that his position 
calls for he will be able to function in this capacity to the great 
advantage of his community. Primarily it is with respect 
to his policy that he is responsible for the creation of public 
opinion. He must devise ways and means of securing wise 
and proper publicity for that policy. The more cleverly he 
can blaze the trail by mere suggestion the better. The clever 
leader leads the people of his community to believe that they 
are leading themselves. This perhaps can be achieved through 
private conversation, for which the principal should never be 
too busy. There will arise from time to time opportunities for 
the principal to make public addresses; and the Parent- 
Teachers' League should increase the number of such oppor- 
tunities to unfold his projects. A judicious use may be made 
also of the local press. Of course it goes without saying that 
the principal must exercise common sense in the use of this 



72 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

organ. The principal's policy is not, however, the only 
matter concerning which a useful man will make public 
sentiment. The right kind of man, if he stays long enough in 
a place, should be able to mold the sentiment and activities 
of the community in many of its features. There are many 
public occasions upon which a popular, trusted, and useful 
principal will be invited to serve. Some villages will work a 
man to death in trifling matters of a public nature if he 
will let them. On the other hand, some men of an officious tem- 
perament will thrust themselves in where they are not wanted. 
Nothing else but common sense will point out the kind of 
public activities that he should steer clear of. It goes without 
saying that among these is politics. The right kind of man 
will make himself useful in the local church of his choice with- 
out giving offense to any one. 

The Social Survey. — This chapter ought not to be concluded 
without a few paragraphs about the social survey. The survey 
idea is not new. Geological surveys, designed to discover and 
locate our mineral resources, have long been in use. Professor 
L. H. Bailey, formerly of the Cornell University College of Agri- 
culture, Ithaca, N. Y., has for more than twenty-five years ad- 
vocated the agricultural survey, designed to discover and make 
known the capabilities of every locality, so that the most 
profitable program may be scientifically worked out by each 
community. While his aims were primarily economic, he has 
himself been a leader in the extension of the rural survey to 
social as well as economic matters. His theory is that " the 
taking stock of the exact condition and materials of country 
life is immensely important, for we cannot supply remedies 
before we make a diagnosis, and an accurate diagnosis must 
rest on a multitude of facts that we do not now possess." 



Pupils ■, Parents, and Public 73 

" Every thorough survey," he adds, " should be the fore- 
runner of new ideals for the communities, and new points of 
crystallization of local effort. It should make new paths. 
And no small part of the value of such surveys will be the 
discovery of great numbers of earnest, competent men and 
women on the farms who may be made local leaders." Minis- 
ters as well as leaders of the country life movement have taken 
up the survey idea ; and the literature of the country church 
has been full of it. Numerous social surveys have been made 
from the standpoint of the church ; and numerous cities have 
been surveyed from the standpoint of the school. These 
facts should suggest to the village principal that a community 
survey should be undertaken jointly as a cooperative enter- 
prise, by school authorities, ministers, representatives of the 
business interests, and women's clubs. The more agencies 
cooperate in it the more successful and useful it is likely 
to be. 

Nothing that a village principal can do is more stimulating 
than to make, or cause to have made, a thoroughgoing social 
survey of his village. He is sure to discover things he did not 
know before, and things that the people did not know. These 
discoveries in turn raise the question as to what can be done 
to correct defects. To raise such a question will provoke 
discussion and generate interest in community affairs. Almost 
inevitably somebody will start something. It will almost 
inevitably result in the school adapting itself more intelligently 
to the needs of the community. 

A social survey is an inventory of the social resources and 
liabilities of the community. It may be limited or exhaustive 
in its scope, depending upon the aim of the survey and the 
resources at the disposal of the surveyors. The following 



74 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

outline is offered as suggestive of some of the more important 
matters that may be investigated in a community survey. 

OUTLINE FOR A SOCIAL SURVEY 

Economic 
i. Soil survey. 

2. Other industrial resources. 

3. List of industries, with number and social status of persons engaged 

in each. 

4. Conditions of farming (in agricultural sections). 

5. Extent, conditions, and effects of tenancy. 

6. Pay and social status of industrial workers. 

7. Special features peculiar to the community. 

Population 

1. Number. 

2. Nationalities. 

3. Increasing or decreasing. 

4. Where do the young people go? 

Family Conditions 

1. Size of families. 

2. Tenants or renters. 

3. Quality of homes. 

4. Standards of living, quality of housekeeping, etc. 

5. Musical instruments, periodicals, pictures, etc. 

6. Is family intercourse wholesome and happy, or otherwise? 

Recreation 

1 . The play life of the children. 

2. Young people's recreational activities. 

3. Community gatherings. 

4. The use of art for recreational purposes. 

5. Fraternal orders. 

6. Commercialized recreations. 

7. Saloons, etc. 



Pupils, Parents , and Public 75 

Moral and Religious Resources 

1. Churches: membership, attendance condition (growing or declin- 

ing). 

2. Non-attendance at churches, with causes. 

3. Moral conditions of various sorts. 

4. What sort of young men does the place produce ? 

5. Crime, prostitution, drunkenness, etc. 
Educational 

1. Educational equipment of adults. 

2. Of minors over school age. 

3. Children under school age out of school. 

4. Proportion of children graduating from high school. 

5. Attendance at higher institutions. 

6. Present occupation of children passing out of the sixth grade 

during a five-year period. 

7. Industrial training the locality demands. 

This outline is intended only as suggestive. The data 
gathered under many of these headings will readily lend itself 
to tabulation and graphic presentation. In almost every case 
the data, when tabulated and graphed, will suggest measures 
for the correction of defects. These should be stated clearly 
and constructively. The value of the survey will consist 
chiefly in the constructive or reconstructive community work 
that it gives rise to. 

For the guidance of any principal who wishes to secure a 
social survey of his village, the authors would recommend a 
pamphlet by C. J. Galpin, Professor of Rural Sociology in 
the University of Wisconsin. It is entitled : The Method of 
Making a Social Survey of a Rural Community. Also The 
Survey Idea in Country Life Work, by L. H. Bailey of Cornell 
University. A careful reading of this pamphlet will be well 
worth while, as it will render the survey more cautious and 
scientific, which is vastly important. Various pamphlets of 



76 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

instruction and printed reports of completed rural surveys 
can be secured, in some cases free, by addressing the Univer- 
sities of Minnesota and Wisconsin, Cornell University, the 
Russell Sage Foundation, and the Presbyterian Board of Home 
Missions. 

REFERENCES 

Ayres, Leonard P. Laggards in Our Schools. 
The best discussion of the extent and causes of retardation and elimina- 
tion. Should be in every principal's library. 
Bachman, Frank P. Problems of Elementary School Administration. 

Contains enlightening discussions of retardation. A valuable book. 
Bloomtield, Meyer. Readings in Vocational Guidance. 

A good book on the subject of vocational guidance. 
Brewer, John M. The Vocational-Guidance Movement. 

"The first comprehensive, critical presentation of vocational guidance 
in all its aspects." 
Brown, J. F. The American High School. 

Contains some valuable hints on the subject of this chapter. 
Galpin, C. J. The Method of Making a Social Survey of a Rural Com- 
munity. 
The best manual. Address : University of Wisconsin. 
Gowtn and Wheatley. Occupation. 

A textbook in vocational guidance. Describes various occupations. 
Hoag and Terman. Health Work in the Schools. 

No principal can read this book without being impressed with the 
importance of knowing the physical condition of each individual 
child. 
Morehouse, Frances M. The Discipline of the School. 

Chapter II contains a good section (pp. 28-34) on "The Mode of 
Control through Personal Influence." 
Williams, J. Harold (Whittier, Cal.). Scale for Grading Neighborhood 
Conditions. 
Principals desiring to make a neighborhood survey will do well to 
write for this scale. 



PART THREE 

ADAPTING THE SCHOOL TO THE NEEDS OF THE 

CHILD 



CHAPTER VII 
THE GRADING SYSTEM 

In Part Three we shall take up grading, promotions, attend- 
ance, course of study, students' social and other activities, 
sanitation and health inspection, and plans for grouping the 
grades. These topics seem to associate themselves together 
rather naturally because in each case the child and his needs 
are to the fore. In the conduct of the school, even if along 
traditional lines, the principal's daily concern must be the 
welfare of the pupils. It is important, therefore, that he be 
familiar with the approved practice in all these matters. 
However, schools everywhere are in process of change, and 
always, if that change is intelligent, with a view to better 
serving the interests of the children. Accordingly the pro- 
gressive principal needs to know what changes are being 
advocated nowadays for the express purpose of better adapting 
the school to the needs of the child. This indicates the task 
of Part Three. 

The " Lock-Step " System 

Rise of the Class Method. — Surprising as it may seem, the 
method of teaching pupils by classes is scarcely more than a 
hundred years old. In olden times parents who could afford 
to educate their children employed a tutor to give private 
lessons. We still buy music instruction in that out-of-date 
fashion. Then a school was only a group of young persons 

79 



So Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

taking private lessons. In colonial days, and even well on 
into the nineteenth century, our American schools were con- 
ducted in that way. The class method was invented, to be 
sure, in the seventeenth century, by a Frenchman named La 
Salle, but it did not come into general use till the nineteenth 
century. Even to-day the old method remains in some Sun- 
day schools of non-English-speaking churches; the children 
are called up one at a time and heard to recite. 

A word might be inserted here about class instruction in 
instrumental music. Class instruction on the violin is now 
being successfully given in many progressive schools. A 
beginning has also been made with group teaching on the 
piano. Other instruments will follow. This venture will 
undoubtedly prove to be of the highest significance because it 
will make instrumental instruction cheap enough so that all 
can get it. Music is one of the things about which everybody 
ought to know something ; there are the weightiest sociological 
reasons why the public schools should furnish universal ele- 
mentary musical education. The class method promises to 
make this practicable. Progressive principals should inform 
themselves on the method, and if possible get it started in their 
schools. Information as to how to begin can undoubtedly be 
secured by correspondence with the nearest important con- 
servatory of music, or by addressing any of the leading musical 
magazines. Of course the very best plan would be to persuade 
the school board to send the school music teacher where she 
can learn the method first hand. 

But to resume : the demand for universal elementary educa- 
tion was the necessity that mothered the class system; and 
the growth of schools with the growth of American democracy 
extended the use of the method. It involved, of course^ some 



The Grading System 81 

attempt at grading the school. In the old-fashioned district 
schools of forty years ago there were the primer, first, second, 
third, fourth, and fifth reader classes. The other classes 
usually corresponded roughly to these: there were the A, B, 
C, and sometimes the D, classes in arithmetic and geography, 
for instance, though there was very little attempt to force a 
given pupil into the same class in all subjects. A big boy 
might be in the fifth reader class, the B geography class, but 
in arithmetic ahead of even the A class, studying square root, 
for instance, all by himself. But during the last generation, 
especially in our city schools, the grading system has been 
pushed to its limits, so that we now have the eight grades, 
and each pupil is supposed to be in a given grade in all his 
subjects. Partly for purposes of standardization, and partly 
through blind imitation of city schools, the grading system has 
been copied, sometimes quite rigidly, even in the country 
schools, often with the result that more recitations instead of 
fewer, as was the original purpose, have been forced upon the 
distracted teacher. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Class System. — 
The class method has some very decided advantages which we 
should never overlook, not even when it is derisively dubbed 
" the lock-step system." It is economical (too economical, 
in fact !) ; it affords opportunity both for wholesome rivalry 
and for cooperation, and secures the zest of group activity and 
the interstimulation of wits. 

But the grading system, especially where it is rigorously 
enforced, has a very serious drawback: it ignores individual 
differences. For average children it does well enough, but 
the child who for any reason is exceptional is made the slave 
of the average. The one, for instance, who has some special 

G 



82 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

talent or ability may have his gift stifled by the grind of the 
machine. This is a distinct loss to society, for genius is one 
of its most precious possessions. But a more obvious, though 
less serious, damage is to those who on account of irregular 
attendance, deficient ability, or peculiar tastes, are unable to 
keep up with their grade. These become confused through 
failure to grasp the subject matter, fall hopelessly behind the 
class, fail to pass, repeat the grade, are therefore retarded and 
discouraged, and finally drop out of school altogether, to be 
relegated as a rule to inferior industrial positions. This is a 
very serious evil in both city and country, especially as it 
constitutes a sort of social selection based on the artificial 
standards of the school. The school literature of the day is 
full of it ; but nobody seems to know just what percentage 
of elimination is due to it; nor has anybody attempted to 
estimate the amount of mental distress it entails upon its 
victims, nor the discouragement, inefficiency, and failure that 
result. The principal can form some idea of these matters 
and their effects upon his own pupils through a study of his 
age and grade distribution tables (see Figures 27, 28, and 29, 
Chapter XV). For instance Figures 27 and 28, as filled out for 
the Carrington, North Dakota, school, show that in this 
school the percentage of retardation gradually increases to the 
seventh grade, where it drops to about half. This evidently 
means that retarded pupils drop out without finishing the 
eighth grade. The question is, Why? Also, What can be 
done to prevent the retardation and elimination ? This chart 
presents these problems forcibly to the attention of the prin- 
cipal, and to the public also if the chart is given publicity. 

Removing the Disadvantages. — Several methods have been 
devised for preventing these objectionable conditions, but 



The Grading System 83 

none of them is very practicable in a small school. Perhaps 
the most famous device is the Batavia system, which supple- 
ments class instruction with individual instruction, for which 
a special teacher is provided. Another is the Cambridge 
plan, which sends one group of children through the grades by 
twenty- three stages and another group by seventeen stages. 
By this arrangement there is always a class just a little 
behind or just a little ahead of where any given child is, so 
that he can be shifted with only a little gain or loss. Another 
plan is to have a special room or class for those who need 
special attention. Burk, of the San Francisco Normal, the 
enemy of the lock-step system, practically abandons the class 
method entirely. These plans all work well enough in large 
schools where there are several classes of the same grade. If a 
superintendent has say two hundred children doing sixth-grade 
work, and a corresponding number in each of the other grades, 
he can group those two hundred children into classes to suit 
himself. But if he has only fifteen or twenty children in each 
grade he can do nothing of the kind. In that case each teacher 
must have two or three grades, and the grades must be a full 
year apart. Practically all that has been written on this 
subject for city schools is utterly useless, therefore, to the 
village principal. 

In any school large enough to employ a teacher for each 
grade, with thirty to forty pupils in a grade, the plan of semi- 
annual promotions can be worked out by dividing the room 
into two divisions, A and B. Then at the opening of the first 
semester the 6th grade teacher will have two classes, 6 A and 
6B. At the end of the first semester the 6B is promoted to 
6A and the 6A to 7B. This does not mean that the pupils 
must change rooms, but the same teacher remains with these 



84 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

pupils until the end of the year, presenting in this time the work 
as outlined in the course of study for 6B, 6A, and 7B. With 
this arrangement pupils failing of promotion repeat only one 
half year's work ; those capable of double promotion can skip 
one half year's work ; and, too, the objection of pupils changing 
teachers too frequently is done away with. This plan will 
necessitate an 8th-grade teacher who is perhaps a college 
graduate and who can present high school work to the 9B class 
during the second semester. 

At the present stage of our educational development the 
principal of a small village school cannot in this way solve the 
problem. Indeed there is no entirely satisfactory solution for 
him. It may, however, be solved in part; and the most 
important step has been taken when the principal and his 
teachers become keenly conscious of the problem. If they 
realize that serious and irreparable damage is likely to be 
done to the children their natural sympathy will prompt them 
to do everything they can to avert the tragedy. With the 
teachers in that frame of mind the battle is half won. 

Several suggestions can be offered. The scientific means 
suggested in a previous chapter — medical inspection and the 
psychological clinic — should, if possible, be utilized for 
discovering why children fall below grades, or what their 
special talents may be. The diagnosis of the standard tests 
will also furnish valuable information about individuals. 
Progressive principals keep a card history of each pupil (see 
Figures 10, 15, and 17, Chapter XV), which enables them 
to judge each case intelligently, and also to draw general 
conclusions as to where pupils lose time, and why. It goes 
without saying that grade marks should be made up con- 
scientiously and accurately, in order to do no injustice — or 



The Grading System 85 

better, in order to do as little injustice as possible. Of course 
the tests are better. 

The fundamental remedy for the drawbacks of the graded 
class system is individual instruction. Teachers should be 
encouraged to do as much of this as they can, little as that may 
prove to be. But individual instruction, the teacher should 
understand, is an art in itself, It involves a peculiar tech- 
nique, which advocates of the Batavia method sum up under 
two rules, as follows : First, the teacher, not the pupils, should 
decide who needs the individual instruction. Ambitious, 
conscientious students are apt to come voluntarily to the 
teacher for assistance. Obviously they are the ones who 
are best able to keep up to grade without it, however much 
they might profit by it. On the other hand, those who need 
help are often the least likely to realize their need and to 
desire the help. Or they may be too reticent about asking 
for it. With them, therefore, the teacher should take the 
initiative. Secondly, individual instruction, as a rule, in- 
volves the development method rather than the telling 
method. Instead of helping the pupil, help him to help 
himself. Ground him in general principles ; see that he under- 
stands. Discover the dark spots, and help him to see them 
clearly. 

Time for Individual Instruction. — There are various devices 
for securing the necessary time for this individual instruction. 
Some teachers keep pupils after school hours for this purpose ; 
but this puts the additional assistance in the light of a punish- 
ment, and discounts its value. Other principals dismiss 
school a half hour earlier, keeping the laggards for extra in- 
struction. The smaller the school the more difficult this will 
be because where each teacher has two or three grades the 



86 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

program is crowded at best. Besides it involves two draw- 
backs : first, it is difficult to keep pupils from regarding their 
detention as a penalty or disgrace ; secondly, the half hour 
ought to be made valuable for these who are sent home. A 
better way to get time for this individual instruction is to 
plan, if possible, for a period of thirty to forty minutes during 
both the morning and afternoon sessions when there are no 
classes reciting and the teacher is free to help the backward 
pupil ; then the time given will appeal to pupils as a privilege 
rather than a punishment. This period should not be the last 
period of the day. 

In the smaller schools time devoted to individual instruction 
will usually have to be saved out of class periods. Advocates 
of the Batavia system, for instance, recommend that one or 
two class periods a week be devoted to individual instruction. 
Shortening the time devoted to recitations so as to help a few 
means lengthening the study periods of the many, and this 
is a dangerous practice. In American elementary schools 
recitation periods are too short and study periods too long as 
it is. If, therefore, study periods are to be lengthened provi- 
sion must be made to secure profitable use of the extra time. 
The secret of success in this is careful and skillful assignment of 
lessons. The more skillfully the teacher teaches her class, 
especially the more skillfully she makes the assignment, the 
more time she can save for individual teaching. But even 
at that she will not have enough. 

One of the authors has recently been trying to work out the 
supervised study proposition in the high school by having 
periods sixty minutes in length and devoting part of the 
period to preparation and part to recitation. This plan is a 
great help in teaching pupils how to study. The greatest 



The Grading System 87 

difficulty is the necessary lengthening of the school day. 
This, however, is sure to come as we continue to introduce 
more industrial and laboratory courses, the value of which 
cannot be questioned. 

So far as the principal is concerned, then, the only remedy 
for the so-called lock step is largely in the pedagogical zeal 
and skill which he can secure and develop in his teachers. 
The best, however, that principal and teachers can do will 
not be enough. The real solution waits upon the taxpayer. 
Nothing but a more adequate teaching force will solve the 
problem. As soon as possible, therefore, the board should add 
another teacher. As will be pointed out later the principal 
himself needs office help. If he is to develop real educational 
leadership he cannot spend all his time in teaching and routine 
office work. Perhaps in some schools a woman might be 
employed to do the work of the school board clerk, look after 
routine matters in the principal's office, and do some teaching, 
perhaps the individual instruction needed in all the grades, or 
commercial subjects in high school. If she received the 
clerk's pay her salary would not be a total addition to the 
budget. Other combinations of work, including always pro- 
vision for individual instruction, will suggest themselves to 
the principal. But whatever the combination, let the additional 
help be secured as soon as possible. The use of high schools 
for teacher training will help solve this problem, as teachers 
in training can be used for special work in the grades. Ulti- 
mately the time will come when individual instruction will be 
adequately provided for. When that time comes the course 
of study can be better adapted to the tastes and talents of 
individual pupils. 

Perhaps a vacation school is a solution which, at the present 



88 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

stage of development, the board can be induced to provide for. 
Backward children will usually be willing, sometimes anxious, 
to attend a summer session, and the encouragement of parents 
can usually be secured. The vacation school also affords 
opportunity to experiment in various educational innovations. 

Grades and Tests 

Closely related to the grading system is the problem of 
marks and how to compute them. The usual custom is to 
depend partly on the daily grade and partly on examination 
grades. The more carefully kept the record of the pupils' 
daily work, the more accurate grades are likely to be. The 
principal will have to coach some teachers in this detail. 

Examinations. — Examinations are almost universally relied 
upon' for determining the results of pupils' work. They in- 
volve some difficulties and are subject to some disadvantages. 
This is not the place to describe the technique of writing 
examination questions ; that is to be found in books on the 
teaching process. The principal should himself be master of 
this item of technique, and he should see that his teachers 
learn it. It is well to require teachers to file with the principal 
in advance the questions to be used, and the principal should 
reserve the right to ehminate and insert questions at his dis- 
cretion. This will tend to insure care in their preparation. 

Pupils' Marks. — The disadvantage of examinations is that 
the returns cannot be relied upon. Investigations have 
emphasized the fact that a given paper will be graded differ- 
ently by different teachers, and even by the same teacher at 
different times. The difference is sometimes very astonishing, 
quite shocking, indeed. In other words, the examination is 
an unreliable test of a pupil's work. This does not necessarily 



The Grading System 89 

mean that it should be abandoned, but that it should be con- 
ducted with care, and supplemented by other means of apprais- 
ing work, especially the standard tests. Examinations 
should therefore never count for more than one third while the 
recitations count for two thirds of the final grade. Some 
teachers supplement these two items with a third, namely, their 
own common-sense estimate of the pupil's work, independent 
of daily grades or examinations. The three elements are then 
averaged. There is something to be said in favor of this. 
Psychology teaches that the subconscious mind is a rich reposi- 
tory of mental wealth accumulated from the almost infinite 
variety of past experience. All this we draw upon in our 
common-sense estimates of persons. When we try to make up 
our estimates of mental power and achievements on a formal 
score-card basis things are apt to be overlooked that common 
sense would subconsciously consider; or, if not overlooked, 
given too much or too little weight. Psychologists who 
advocate formal methods of measuring mental results often 
overlook the psychological significance of the subconscious 
elements in judgment. All formal computations of grades 
and marks may well, therefore, be checked up by the teacher's 
common-sense estimate of the pupil's work. For though 
common sense has its limitations, especially those of prej- 
udice, administrators and theorists should recognize that for 
judging so complex a thing as mental achievement it possesses 
resources that cannot wisely be dispensed with. 

It is better to render grades in letters than in percentage 
for the reason that percentage grades pretend to accuracy and 
minute discriminations that are impossible. If students are 
graded E, excellent, G, good, P, passing, F, failed, false pre- 
tenses of minute and impossible accuracy are avoided and 



90 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 



trouble is prevented. We are probably coming to the point 
where only two letters will be used, one for satisfactory, the 
other for unsatisfactory, work on the part of pupils, thus doing 
away entirely with discriminations between students. These 
grades would be awarded pupils not only upon the result of 
their work but also upon the effort they have put forth. 
Under the old system of using numerous letters or figures a 
brilliant pupil always has a much better average when he has 
not exerted half the effort that a backward pupil has. By 
using only two letters, both pupils, if their efforts approximate 
the best of which they are capable, will receive more nearly 
similar grades, and neither will suffer any discouragement. 

Getting Teachers to Mark Alike 
— Teachers differ in the rigor with 
which they grade pupils, some being 
extremely lenient, and others too 
severe. To remedy this defect — 
especially in the high school — it is 
well to have the teachers compare 
their records in this respect. Have 
each teacher compute the percent- 
age she gives of each grade. Sup- 
pose for instance that of all the 
grades Miss Smith gave last term 1 7 
per cent were E's, 48 per cent G's, 
31 per cent P's, and 4 per cent C's, 
and no F's. She may then compare 
these percentages with those of her 
colleagues. A faculty meeting may 
well be devoted to this comparison, the record of each 
teacher being placed on the blackboard in graphic form. If 




Fig. 1. Chart Showing Distri- 
bution of a Teacher's Marks. 



The Grading System 91 

the differences are very great an explanation may be asked 
for. Thus, if Miss Jones gives only -J per cent F's and 44 
per cent E's, she should show special reason why such high 
marking is justified. The probability is she will convince 
her principal and her colleagues, and perhaps even herself, 
that she has been too lenient. This exercise will tend to 
secure greater uniformity. The use of only two letters as 
suggested above will obviate much of this difficulty. 

State examinations are a half loaf, and as such are better 
than no bread ; but they should be abolished just as soon as 
adequate supervision and scientific standardization, for which 
they are a cheap substitute, can be provided. Schools 
complying with certain requirements as to qualification of 
teachers, length of periods, equipment, number of pupils per 
teacher, and amount of time the principal devotes to super- 
vision, should be exempt from state examinations. 

This is perhaps a good place to remark that it is unwise 
to worry little children about passing. Worry with young 
children accomplishes nothing, because self-control and power 
of concentration are as yet undeveloped. Grades above the 
sixth, including the high school, are full of youngsters who 
are satisfied with a mere pass ; one reason being that they 
were worried too soon, and the worry has worn off. Instead 
of worrying young children it would be better for teachers to 
study the subject of motivation and undertake to adapt their 
methods to the interests of child life. 

The Standard Tests. — During the past ten years educa- 
tional science has been developing a scientific method of 
examining and grading pupils which is destined to supersede 
examinations entirely, especially in the elementary school. 
We refer to the standard tests. These furnish not only the 



92 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

apparatus for testing school children, but also standards by 
which the principal can determine whether or not his pupils 
in each grade are as far advanced as they may reasonably be 
expected to be. Tests have now been worked out for most of the 
elementary and some of the high school subjects. In all up- 
to-date schools they are taking the place of the older devices 
for determining the grades of pupils. The use of these tests 
in the appraisal of school work eliminates the personal equa- 
tion as it cannot be eliminated from the traditional exam- 
ination. The tendency of the times in education will compel 
the principal to adopt the standard tests and rely upon them 
chiefly for grading and promoting pupils. So important are 
they that an entire chapter (VIII) has been inserted in order 
to assist principals untrained in their use to introduce them 
into their schools. 

REFERENCES 

Ayres, Leonard P. Laggards in Our Schools. 

The best discussion of the causes and extent of retardation and elimi- 
nation. 
Bachman, Frank P. Problems of Elementary School Administration. 
A thorough discussion of retardation in a city system by an educator 
of long experience. 
Bagley, W. C. Classroom Management. 

Chapter XIV discusses the problem of class organization. 
Burk, Frederic Individual Instruction. 

This is the famous monograph in which President Burk arraigns "the 
lock-step system." It is very stimulating reading, however skeptical 
the reader may be. 
Cubberley, E. P. Public School Administration. 

Chapter XVIII deals with the problems discussed in this chapter. 
Cubberley, E. P., School Organization and Administration. 

Chapter IX, on The Progress of Children through the Schools, is a 



The Grading System 93 



discussion principally of age and grade distribution as discovered 
by the Salt Lake City Survey. 
Wilson, H. B., and G. M. The Motivation of School Work. 
Discusses the theory of motivation in general, and explains how to 
motivate the various elementary subjects. 



CHAPTER VIII 

INTRODUCING THE STANDARD TESTS 

Standard Tests Have Come to Stay. — One of the most 
important developments in education during recent years is 
the scientific measurement of results. It has become in- 
creasingly evident to school men that all our attempts to 
estimate how much we are accomplishing have been vague and 
indefinite. Each carpenter has used as long a foot rule as 
suited his own notion, and the amount of silver in the dollar 
has varied with different private mints. But the growth 
and application of science depends upon the fixing of definite 
standards and the adoption of definite units of measurement. 
If education is to be scientific, therefore, it is necessary to 
develop an apparatus that will make quantitative exactness 
possible. It is with this aim in view that work in the field of 
educational measurements has been pushed forward with 
such vigor and enthusiasm during the last ten years. Pro- 
fessor E. L. Thorndike deserves more credit for pioneering 
this tield than does anyone else, though the number of workers 
is now legion. The movement has had to overcome almost 
unlimited opposition from the inertia of conservative school 
men, but its growth has been continuous and rapid; and 
to-day educational measurement has been accepted by the 
American public, while tests and scales are used not only 
throughout this country but around the world. Exact 
knowledge is taking the place of personal opinion in estimating 

94 



Introducing the Standard Tests 95 

the results of teaching, and evidence is displacing guesswork in 
scientific education as in other scientific work. The difficulty 
of applying objective scales and standards to the more in- 
tangible and spiritual aspects of education is realized by none 
so clearly as by the promoters themselves of the movement ; 
but they are none the less earnest in their efforts to measure 
accurately such phases of school work as do lend themselves 
to measurement, confident that the more accurately we do 
what can be measured the more likely we are to succeed in 
imparting the ideals and attitudes that cannot as yet be 
measured. Meantime exact measurement is being applied to 
an ever widening field of school work. 

The Principal Must Use Them. — The movement has 
certainly arrived at such a stage of its development that no 
village principal can afford to ignore it, whether he consider 
his own professional self-respect, the good of his school, or 
the future of his career. There really is nothing he can under- 
take that will prove more awakening and stimulating than 
actually to begin the use of the standard tests, a fact that has 
been demonstrated by the experience of thousands of pro- 
gressive superintendents. It is the purpose of this chapter, 
therefore, to give such simple instructions as will enable a 
principal who really knows nothing about standard tests to 
make such a beginning. 

Before offering these suggestions, however, it is fair to state 
that the best plan for the principal who has no training in the 
use of standard tests is to go to some good summer school and 
take a course. The next best thing would perhaps be to fill 
the first vacancy that occurs in his staff with someone who 
has had a good training. Such a teacher ought to be a great 
help in introducing them. But beware of the smatterer. 



96 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Spelling. — For the inexperienced principal, who must 
depend upon his own resources, it is well to select as a 
starter some test that is simple and easy to give. The Ayres 
Spelling Scale (see Fig. 2) is recommended for this pur- 
pose. It is easy to use because judgment is not required in 
grading the results. This scale is supposed to contain the one 
thousand most commonly used words in the English language. 
They were selected as a result of four careful and extended 
studies. By a most patient and laborious process of trying 
out school children with these lists the one thousand words 
have been arranged into twenty-six groups. The words of 
each group are of equal difficulty, and the groups are arranged 
from left to right in the order of their difficulty. The difficulty 
of each word was determined by the percentage of pupils in a 
given grade that, by actual experiment, spelled it correctly. 
For instance, column H was spelled correctly by 100 per cent 
of fifth graders, and 98 per cent of fourth graders, and accord- 
ingly should be spelled correctly by like percentages of pupils 
in any school. Any fifth grade that spells correctly less than 
100 per cent of the words in column H is below standard in 
spelling. The standards were set by what 70,000 pupils in 
84 cities actually did. 

It is a very simple thing to give this test. Suppose you 
wish to score your fourth grade in spelling ; you select any 
column from H to T inclusive. Ayres recommends the 
column with which the grade you are testing may be expected 
to make 84 per cent. Following this suggestion you might 
take column M for a fourth-grade test. You proceed to 
pronounce the words and have the children write them as in 
any spelling exercise. It is better to give two or three short 
tests of twenty-five words each, on consecutive days, than to 



Introducing the Standard Tests 



97 



o 

z 


h 




o 

10 


CO 
CO 


CD 


CD 
CO 


lillillliiMl! 


-1 
111 


(0 


X 
ore 

V 


CO 


CO 


GO 


CM 
CD 


iliilfifitiltifli 


0. 
0) 


cc 




o 

10 


CO 
CO 


0) 


00 

GO 


<* 

CD 


IilitlllHffllilli 


z 







CO 
10 


CO 


GO 


CM 
CD 


CO 
CD 


ilMWHililli 


> 


Q. 


is 
9 


CO 

co 


CD 


00 
00 


CD 


CO 
CD 


liiiliftlilillii! 


-1 


O 




O 


CO 


CO 


CM 
CO 


CO 
CD 


CD 
CD 


fillfiliiillfitk 


< 

cc 
o 


z 




GO 
IT) 


0) 


GO 
CO 


0) 


CO 
CD 


O 

o 


flllifllillilllili 


1 


Is 

■1- 


CD 
CO 




CM 

0) 


CO 
0) 


CD 
CD 




udtMifftjur 


LJ 

-1 


-1 


o 


CO 


00 
CD 


0) 


CO 
CD 


O 

o 




flfAnmumi 


< 
o 

o 


* 


CD 
ID 


CD 




CO 
CD 


0) 
0) 


si 

CO 


IlillMliillillrt 


"^ 


CD 

CD 


CO 


0> 


to 

0) 


o 




HAflnlJiiiltll] 


z 

CC 


— 


CO 


CO 

CO 




CD 


0) 
0) 


+ 

IU 

x< 




D 
< 


X 


CD 


CVJ 
CD 


CO 
0) 


o 
o 




tl^iilEllllIilIil 


LJ 

1 


o 




CD 


CD 
0) 


u-< 


rlsiillihilliilsf 



■S.jz; 



£W 



C/2 g nJ 



a g o 

"5 cj .2 



> V) 

<a to 



, <u 



■as 

o .9 

(J cd 

O 2 



gS Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

give a long test all at once, as the element of fatigue would 
influence the result. When the writing is finished take up the 
papers and file them away to be scored. Scoring these papers 
for an average sized class will not be found a very heavy task. 
If you have used fifty words you will of course subtract 
2 per cent for each misspelled word. Grade each paper on the 
percentage basis. If a given pupil makes about 84 per cent 
he is just up to grade ; he has done just what ought to be 
expected of a fourth-grade pupil. But if he makes only 66 
per cent he is a whole grade below standard ; he is no better in 
spelling than a third grader ought to be. 

The Median. — In determining the score of the class as a 
whole the principal would naturally compute the average 
score and adopt that as the class score. Instead the " median 
score " is computed, and this is quite a different matter. 
To find the " median score " the examiner simply piles the 
papers on top of each other, in the order of their scores, the 
lowest at the bottom, the highest at the top. He then 
selects the middle paper ; its score will be the " median score." 
Thus if there are thirty-five papers in the pile the eighteenth 
paper will be taken : there will be seventeen above it and 
seventeen below. If there is an even number of papers, say 
thirty-six, practice differs ; some would take the score of the 
eighteenth as the median, some would average the scores of the 
eighteenth and nineteenth. The object of taking the " median 
score " instead of the average score is because averages are too 
much affected by one or two extremely bad papers. 

If the median score of your fourth grade proves to be below 
standard, i.e. below 84 per cent, you will probably see that 
the pupils get more drill. Three months later a similar test 
(using a different column, of course) will be likely to reveal 



Introducing the Standard Tests 99 

improvement. But meantime do not make the mistake of 
using the Ayres lists as spelling lessons, or of otherwise per- 
mitting the children to become familiar with them, as in that 
case they would obviously lose their value as tests. The giving 
of this simple but scientific test, an experiment that can be 
performed with the material furnished in this book, will 
break the ice for the principal in the use of standard tests; 
and its revelations will in all probability be an eye opener 
to him, and stimulate him both to improve his work in spelling 
and also to test out his results in other subjects. 

Arithmetic. — After the principal has worked through the 
Ayres Spelling Scale the authors recommend that he next use 
the Courtis Arithmetic Tests. These have been the most 
extensively used of all the tests, and may be secured from 
S. A. Courtis, 82 Eliot Street, Detroit, Mich. The price 
is 80 cents per hundred, including instructions and record 
sheets. One should be sure to ask for full instructions. These 
tests are almost as simple and easy to give as the spelling 
test. They are designed to test children from the fourth to 
the eighth grade inclusive in the four fundamental operations. 
The standards have been determined with great accuracy, 
and by their use the principal can ascertain whether or not his 
pupils, as individuals or as classes, are up to the standard. 

The Courtis Arithmetic Tests may well be followed by the 
Cleveland-Survey Arithmetic Tests. These tests are spiral in 
nature, like the Ayres Spelling Scale, and can therefore be 
used with children of different grades. The advantage of 
these tests over the others is that they are diagnostic, that 
is, they reveal just where the child's weakness is. This will 
be illustrated later. The Cleveland-Survey Arithmetic Tests 
may be secured from the University of Chicago, at $1.00 



ioo Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

per hundred. As in the case of the Courtis Test, the principal 
will need one copy for each pupil to be examined. Detailed 
instructions accompany all these tests, but a special request 
for them should accompany the order. 

Handwriting. — In addition to the above the authors sug- 
gest the Ayres Handwriting Scale (Russell Sage Foundation, 
New York City, price 5 cents) ; and Monroe's Standardized 
Silent Reading Tests (University of Illinois, Urbana, 111., 
price, 60 cents per hundred, including instructions and record 
sheets. Ask for instructions also). The Ayres Writing Scale 
is a sheet of paper about twelve inches wide and three feet 
long, on which are printed samples of writing. There are, 
from left to right, eight different qualities, numbered respec- 
tively 20, 30, 40, etc., to 90. The pupil's writing is held up 
against this scale and moved back and forth until it is finally 
located opposite the sample that it is like in quality. In this 
way a given pupil's writing is judged to be of quality 40, say, 
while another's may be judged as equivalent to 60. Many 
teachers keep the Ayres Scale hanging in their schoolroom, 
where the children can see it daily, and the children are en- 
couraged to compare their own writing with it to see whether 
they can improve from week to week. The Ayres Scale re- 
quires the teacher's personal judgment to score, and is there- 
fore more difficult than the Ayres Spelling Scale or the Courtis 
Arithmetic Test ; but it is not diagnostic, as is the Freeman 
Handwriting Scale. For that reason it is easier for a beginner 
to administer, though ultimately the latter should be used 
also. 

Reading. — Monroe's Standardized Silent Reading Test is 
as good as any for the novice. There are three of these tests : 
No. 1 for grades 3, 4, and 5 ; No. 2 for grades 6, 7, and 8 ; 



Introducing the Standard Tests 101 



60 



(jtu/i/ ^MyzAJLs a^pu^ ^-e^^yty^zA^ 




(yyi^cu cp^^t &cVzsC tsor&A^ fetfi-- 



25 ^ 



SeventhI I|Hb| [Eighth] 18 | « 1? j^^n 



1 



20 3< 40 50 60 70 80 90 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 

Fig. 3. Cutting from the Ayres Handwriting Scale. 



to to to to 
19 29 39 49 



102 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

and No. 3 for high school. Each test contains sixteen exer- 
cises. The sample page printed herewith is from test No. 1. 
Explicit instructions are furnished as to how to give the test. 
The aim is to test the child's silent reading as to (a) speed and 
(b) comprehension. The speed or rate value of each exercise 
is indicated at the left, the comprehension value at the right. 
The scores are computed by adding the values of the exercises 
which the child completes in the allotted time. 

The standard scores are tentatively fixed (191 9) as follows by 
Professor Monroe: 

Standard May Scores for Monroe's Standardized Silent 
Reading Tests 

Grade Ill IV V VI VII VIII 

Comprehension . . 9.0 14.5 21.0 21.0 24.0 27.5 

Rate 60 80 93 92 102 108 

That is to say, you can determine whether your pupils are 
above or below what may properly be expected of them by 
comparing the scores they make with these standard scores. 
Tabulating the Findings. — Statistical treatment of the 
scores derived from the standard tests is a matter which may 
be gone into as scientifically and with as much complexity as 
one's interests dictate and his knowledge permits. One will 
eventually find himself desiring to investigate statistical 
methods and graphic presentation. But ignorance of those 
sciences need deter no one from using the tests. Such tabula- 
tions and interpretations as are practically necessary can easily 
be made by following the directions that accompany the tests ; 
and the studious .principal will readily find his way as his 
needs extend. It should be stated in passing that the tests 
recommended in this chapter are recommended not because 



Introducing the Standard Tests 



103 



No. 1 

"I am not playing, little girl," said the squirrel. 
"I am running to my home in the hollow tree. 
Don't you hear my babies calling me? I must 
feed them." 

Where was the home of the squirrel? 

In the 



No. 2 

The little Pilgrim girls carried their workboxes 
to the dame-schools and learned to sew and knit 
as well as to read and write. 

Where did the girls go with their workboxes ? 
To the 



No. 3 

When the white men first came to this country 
they found the red men, or Indians, living in wig- 
wams, made of long poles and covered with skins. 

Which people lived here first, the white or red ? 



No. 4 

Hiawatha was a little Indian boy. He had no 
father and no mother. He lived with his grand- 
mother, Nokomis. His home was in a wigwam. 

Draw a line under the word that tells whom 
Hiawatha lived with, 
father aunt mother uncle sister grandmother 



No. 5 

The cabin of Uncle Tom was a small log build- 
ing close adjoining to "the house," as the negro 
designates his master's dwelling. 

Of what material was Uncle Tom's cabin built ? 



Compre- 
hension 
Value 
1.3 



Compre- 
hension 
Value 
1.3 



Compre- 
hension 
Value 
1.3 



Compre- 
hension 
Value 
1.4 



Compre- 
hension 
Value 
1.4 



Fig. 4. Cutting from Monroe's Standardized Silent Reading Test. 



104 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

they are the best with which to test the school but because 
they are the easiest with which the untrained principal is 
able to familiarize himself. 

Books Needed. — The principal who has given the tests 
described above, and who makes the proper use of his findings, 
will begin to appreciate what it means to professionalize his 
work. He will find himself much interested, and the tests 
so indispensable that he will insist upon informing himself 
further. To this end he will desire a really adequate dis- 
cussion of the whole matter, a thing utterly out of the question 
in this book, since a whole volume scarcely suffices for that 
purpose. The latest, and presumably the best, book for the 
principal to secure is Monroe's Measuring the Results of 
Teaching, published by Houghton Mifflin Co. This book 
contains a description of the principal tests in use at the time 
it was published (191 8), and also numerous references to other 
literature. The reader is warned, however, that work in this 
field is progressing so rapidly that any book must soon become 
out of date. The principal will do well to inquire of some ex- 
pert at his own state normal school or university for the most 
recent and useful literature on the subject. 

Comparative Value. — This chapter will be concluded with 
a brief discussion of the uses of standard tests. 

First, there is the comparative value. Standards of attain- 
ment have been determined in most subjects. That is to 
say, it has been found out what may reasonably be expected 
of children of any given grade in any given subject. Thus, 
sixth-grade children are supposed to score 82 in rate and 19.8 
in comprehension in Monroe's Silent Reading Test, 10 in 
speed and 100 in accuracy in the Courtis test in addition, and 
96 per cent with column M of the Ayres Spelling Scale. Thus 



Introducing the Standard Tests 105 

the principal discovers whether his classes are up to standard. 

By the use of standard tests the principal can compare his 
own school with neighboring schools, thus developing a 
wholesome rivalry in which principals, teachers, pupils, and 
patrons can all participate. In the same way grade can be 
compared with grade. Moreover there is no better way of 
revealing to the pupils themselves their own strength and 
weakness, and of comparing their own attainments at different 
times. And finally the tests are useful aids in the appraisal of 
teachers ; the teacher whose work produces low scores term 
after term will be liable to suspicion as an inefficient teacher. 

Diagnostic Value. — The second value is the analytic or 
diagnostic. By the use of the tests the teacher discovers those 
subjects in which her pupils are weak, and those in which they 
are strong. One principal discovered that spelling had been 
overtaught in his school, while, to his surprise and chagrin, 
his children were way behind in arithmetic, the very subject 
in which he had prided himself for thoroughness. Certain 
tests further reveal the precise phase of the subject in which a 
given child is weak. Thus the Cleveland-Survey Arithmetic 
Tests carry the matter of diagnosis very much further than do 
the Courtis Arithmetic Tests. The Courtis Tests reveal those 
of the four fundamental operations in which the pupil is weakest. 
This is shown by a graph which comes in blank with the tests 
themselves. But the Cleveland Tests go much more into 
detail. Thus in one school the following (in multiplication) : 

3490542749 
2782619605 

revealed that the children did not know how to use 9 as a 
multiplier. Again the following: 



106 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

i + ■§■> i + i etc., produced as answers to and t\, revealing 
that the children lacked comprehension of the denominators. 

Again, a multiplier with a o in it, e.g. * , produced trouble. 

In short, the test revealed the weak spots where the pupils 
needed special instruction and drill. 

Again, the Freeman Handwriting Scale, unlike the Ay res, 
enables the teacher to score a pupil's handwriting as to (a) 
uniformity of slant, (b) uniformity of alignment, (c) quality 
of line, (d) letter formation, and (e) spacing. This analysis 
is very useful. It is poor pedagogy to urge a pupil in general 
terms to improve his writing. It is very good pedagogy, on 
the other hand, to specify precisely what is wrong with the 
pupil's handwriting. He then knows just what to correct. 

The Tests Redirect Teaching. — Once more, the reading 
tests tend to reveal the particular defect under which the 
child is laboring. While he may read orally fairly well, he 
may be very low in silent reading. This may indicate that 
he does not know how to get the thought from the page, or 
that his vocabulary is very meager. 

Professor Haggerty 1 has gathered data as to the effects of 
measurement upon school practice. He enumerates six kinds 
of changes, as follows: 

i. Changes in classification of pupils. 

2. Changes in school organization. 

3. Changes in course of study. 

4. Changes in methods of instruction. 

5. Changes in time devoted to subjects. 

6. Changes in methods of supervision. 

1 Seventeenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. 



Introducing the Standard Tests 107 

Then follow sixteen very interesting pages specifying, under 
each of these heads, concrete changes that have actually 
resulted in various cities. The most important use of the 
standard tests is precisely the changes in school practice that 
result, and unless they do result it is not worth while to give 
the tests at all. 

The Tests as Incentives. — The fourth value of the tests is 
their value as incentives. This has already been referred to 
incidentally under the comparative value. The rivalries 
created between schools, between rooms, or between classes, 
appeal in a wholesome way to the spirit of group solidarity 
and intergroup rivalry, and stimulate all concerned to improve 
the work of the school. The children themselves respond when 
the tests are explained to them, though personal rivalries 
should be avoided. They like to raise the scale of their own 
handwriting. If they are told after an arithmetic test that a 
similar one will be given in a few weeks they usually show a 
marked interest in the drills that are given them meantime. 
One principal has evolved the following plan. He assigns to 
each member of the class a number which is known only to 
himself and the pupil. After any test has been given he draws 
a line on the blackboard and divides it into parts corresponding 
to the numbers of the score. In the case of the Ayres Spelling 
Scale, for example, the line would be divided into tenths from 
ten to one hundred. The standard score (84 per cent in the 
case of fourth-grade children using column M) is plainly marked 
on the line. Then the children's secret numbers are placed 
at the points on the line indicating the score they have earned. 
Each pupil can thus see just where he stands with reference 
to the standard and with reference to the rest of the class. 
The announcement is made that the test will be repeated later ; 



108 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

meantime each pupil (except those who are up to standard) 
endeavors to improve his work in that subject. Those who 
are up to standard devote their surplus energy to some subject 
in which they may be below the norm. This principal's 
experience is that the pupils do not tell their secret numbers 
to one another. One boy, whose score was high, was afraid 
to tell for fear he might not do so well next time. This 
obviates the practice of children knowing each other's grades, a 
pride-killing abuse. It also obviates individual rivalry, by 
making each pupil his own rival. Thus the use of standard 
tests as an incentive helps to solve one of the most perplexing 
problems of elementary education ; namely, the motivation of 
drill work. There has seemed to be no way of furnishing the 
pupil a wholesome self-interest in the necessary drill ; but this 
comes nearer reducing the bugbear than anything else at the 
disposal of the teacher. 

REFERENCES 

Gray, Wm. S. Descriptive Lists of Standard Tests, 1917, in the Elemen- 
tary School Journal for September, 1917. 
Describes each of the important standard tests and tells where to get 
them. A useful pamphlet for the principal. Reprints can be se- 
cured from the University of Chicago Press for five cents each. 
The list in the back of Monroe's book is better, however. 

Monroe, W. S. Measuring the Results of Teaching. 

This is the latest, best, and most complete book on the subject. It 
serves as a manual for guidance in the use of the standard tests. 
Every principal should own and use this book. 



CHAPTER IX 
ATTENDANCE, CURRICULUM, AND ORGANIZATION 

A. Attendance 

Irregular attendance is an important cause of retardation 
and elimination, and the reason is obvious. The child who 
is irregular in his attendance loses important parts of the 
subject matter; as a consequence he does not understand 
the lessons when he is present, he gets hopelessly behind, 
becomes discouraged, and ultimately fails to pass. After 
one or two failures to keep up with his class he drops out 
entirely. But this is not all ; the irregular attendant hinders 
the class just because he does drag behind. He not only 
wastes the taxpayers' investment in his own education, but 
he also wastes part of the investment in that of his school- 
mates. In some states he deprives his district of state aid 
by cutting down attendance below the percentage required by 
law for the granting of aid. 

Inducing Pupils to Attend Regularly. — Various incentives 
are resorted to for inducing pupils to attend regularly. These 
are too familiar to need description here, and their discussion 
in detail hardly belongs in a work of this kind. The practice 
of requiring written excuses from parents often leads to their 
forgery by pupils. A system that is so administrated as to train 
young citizens in such gross dishonesty cannot be too severely 
condemned. To reward good attendance by exempting from 

109 



no Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

some school duties — e.g. granting quarter holidays — puts 
school work in the wrong light. Children should be taught 
to appreciate what the state does for them, not taught that 
they are lucky to escape it. A healthy rivalry as to attend- 
ance percentage between schools, or between different rooms 
in the same school, or between classes, is a wholesome device. 
In the school of which one of the writers was principal there is 
a silver loving cup which is left for a period of one month in the 
custody of the room having the highest percentage of attend- 
ance and punctuality the previous month. He also offered 
one fourth holiday for the room having the highest percentage 
of attendance and punctuality during these months, but the 
holidays were to be used at the discretion of the teacher in 
visiting some place of interest, in making an excursion into the 
country, or in some similar manner out of the ordinary routine 
but valuable to the pupil. 

In the last analysis, however, the success of these devices 
depends largely upon the attitude and personality of the 
teacher or principal who administers them. He must himself 
consider irregularity the serious matter that it really is, 
and he must possess the knack of talking to his pupils in such 
a way as to make them consider it serious. Making the 
school work interesting and vital is better than any of these 
devices. If the children like their school, and the parents 
believe in its value, there is but little use for artificial incentives. 
Intelligent attention devoted to the curriculum and to moti- 
vation, will, in most cases, go far toward solving the attendance 
problem. 

Enforcing the Law. — If regularity of attendance were only 
a matter of influencing the children it would be comparatively 
easy to handle. It becomes difficult when indifference or 



Attendance j Curriculum, and Organization in 

opposition on the part of parents has to be overcome. In this 
respect communities differ very greatly. In some places 
school sentiment is strong, and only the exceptional patron is 
indifferent ; in other places the case is entirely otherwise. In 
German-Russian settlements in North Dakota, for instance, 
families can be found that have never attended school; 
and it is the usual thing to resist school attendance, es- 
pecially in summer, as soon as children are large enough to 
be of any use on the farms. In industrial centers compara- 
tively few children complete the eighth grade. In such cases 
the principal confronts the task of creating sentiment; his 
problem is to persuade patrons to send their children to 
school. There are several means of doing this : private inter- 
views, the parent- teachers' league, the columns of the local 
paper, and commencement and other occasions. Probably the 
best way in the long run, however, is to enforce the law. The 
history of American education shows that in this country we 
have relied principally upon the creation of public sentiment, 
and the voluntary response of the people, for educational 
progress. We have probably overworked this policy in the 
development of public education. If our schools are to 
assimilate successfully the foreign element of our population, 
and lift the masses out of their ignorance and its resultant 
helplessness, we must compel attendance. Every village 
principal should therefore set himself fearlessly and vigorously 
to the task of enforcing school attendance laws. The machin- 
ery for doing so is not always adequate, to be sure, and the 
principal is often handicapped by dependence upon officers 
who are themselves elected by the people and who will not, 
and cannot be compelled to, perform their duty. Radical 
reforms in this respect are past due in many states ; but mean- 



H2 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

time the principal should use rigorously such powers as he 
has. The village policeman is usually glad, however, to act 
as truant officer, and his acting in this capacity will save the 
principal from the more or less unpleasant and often impossible 
work of spying out and rounding up truant offenders. 

B. Curriculum 

If the school is to be adjusted to the needs of the child 
there must be a properly constructed course of study. 
Retardation, elimination, and maladjustment to the demands 
of life are the three sorts of injury that an improper curriculum 
inflicts upon the pupil. 

Retardation. — The curriculum causes retardation if it is 
not suited to the capacities and interests of the children. The 
majority of children are concrete and motor minded. They 
are educated by seeing, handling, and doing. But the tradi- 
tional course of study, based largely on the disciplinary theory, 
does not appeal to them. Formal arithmetic and grammar, 
reading for practice and not for content, motiveless com- 
position, book geography and history, dead language and 
abstract mathematics, are not food for their type of mind. 
Consequently they fall behind their classes. One of the first 
things a principal should do in a new place is to make up 
his tables of age and grade distribution (see Figs. 28, 29 and 
30, Chapter XV) ; and, if they reveal retardation, inquire 
into the causes. The course of study may prove to be the 
difficulty. 

Elimination Because of a Poor Curriculum. — Retardation, 
of course, leads to elimination. It may also arise, independent 
of retardation, from a course of study that neither pupils nor 
parents consider practical and useful. Most patrons are 



Attendance , Curriculum, and Organization 113 

reticent about criticizing the school, especially to the principal. 
Their schooling was meager in most cases, and schools have 
changed out of all semblance of what they were accustomed to 
in youth. They fear themselves to be ignorant and out of date. 
Consequently they hesitate to express their dissatisfaction 
with what the school offers. About all the principal hears are 
expressions of pride in the new physical development of the 
schools. But if any complacent pedagogue fancies that the 
people are satisfied with what the schools are giving their 
children, he needs a rude awakening ; and there is no better 
way to administer such a shock to himself than to go through 
the periodical literature of the past five or ten years, searching 
out and reading the popular articles on education. It will 
convince him that we are on the eve of a revolution. The 
people want something different, and rest assured they will 
get it, too. What the people know that they want, especially 
in secondary education, is industrial training; and there is 
every sociological reason for furnishing it. Manual training, 
domestic science, and agriculture are long steps in that 
direction. The Smith-Hughes Act of 191 7 is another long 
step, almost a revolutionary move, in the same direction. But 
there are other things which the schools should offer that are 
just as important as industrial training, though not so clearly 
demanded by the public. Among these are physical educa- 
tion, moral training, education in the fine arts, and a better 
preparation for citizenship. When these changes come the 
attendance curve will not pitch down so precipitously at the 
end of the compulsory attendance age. 

It should be remarked, however, that the average youngster 
is liable to be far more dissatisfied with the course of study than 
the situation warrants. It is designed to prepare him for 



ii4 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

participation in the complex modern civilization for which he 
is a potential candidate. But he has no such conception 
of its aim as that. Neither has his teacher as a rule, sad to 
say. There can be no better expenditure of energy on the 
part of a really educated principal than to explain to his older 
pupils the values, undreamed of by them, of the subjects they 
are studying. Let the principal beware, however, of the 
temptation to explain a value into everything whether or not 
there is really any there. As a matter of fact some subjects 
have little or no value and should be discarded. 

A New Age Needs a New Curriculum. — But even those 
who pursue a faulty course to the end without losing step 
are sure to feel afterwards that much of their time was wasted. 
How often we hear mature persons comment, sometimes 
jocosely, sometimes bitterly, on the futility of much of what 
they studied in school. How obviously useless is much of 
what is taught still ; and how much that is of utmost impor- 
tance is still ignored ! 

Both the history and the theory of education show that 
there is a causal relation between the course of study and the 
society or civilization in which it is used. Thus Spartan 
education was entirely military, because Spartan civilization 
was military. Athenian education was aesthetic, cultural, 
and individualistic to correspond with her civilization. 
Similar illustrations could, of course, be selected from all epochs 
of history. Likewise, when a civilization changes there must 
occur a corresponding change in the contents of education. 
And when has there ever been a profounder change in civili- 
zation than has occurred in the last century, and is still occur- 
ring? As was pointed out in Chapter I, historians of civil- 
ization designate the present as a new era, due to the entirely 



Attendance 7 Curriculum , and Organization 115 

revolutionary changes that have occurred in science, industry, 
and government. And nowhere is that change being felt 
more forcibly than in the rural sections of America, where the 
western limit of new land turns the wave of emigration back 
to force intensive farming on the older areas. In response to 
the demands of a new civilization many changes have occurred 
in the curriculum during the last generation. Democracy is 
blindly groping its way about in the world's treasure house of 
culture for the material of a curriculum adequate to its needs. 
The scientific movement has forced many new subjects into 
the course of study. Partly through the influence of Herbart, 
history and literature have a larger place in the elementary 
school. More recently the need of all the people for industrial 
education on the one hand and artistic resources on the other 
is being met in the schools. As a result the elementary 
course has been vastly enriched beyond the three R's of our 
grandfathers; and the secondary course of to-day is quite 
like the college courses of a century ago. 

And the end is by no means yet. There will probably be 
more changes in the next twenty-five years than there have 
been in the past fifty. New subjects will still be added, and 
those recently added will be vastly extended. The greatest 
change will probably be in industrial education, of which the 
Smith-Hughes Act marks the beginning, though it is to be 
hoped that the arts will maintain a growth in the curriculum 
commensurate with their relative importance. But a change 
more significant than mere additions and subtractions will 
occur. The struggle between blind tradition and almost 
equally blind innovation will give place to a rationalized 
adjustment on the basis of social and psychic needs. Educa- 
tion will become self-conscious, discover its aims and ideals, 



n6 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

and scientifically adapt the means thereto. This will come 
about through the leadership of educators of philosophic and 
prophetic insight, and through an intelligent following by 
superintendents, principals, and teachers who understand 
and appreciate that leadership. 

The Young Educator's Opportunity. — No young educator 
need ask a greater professional opportunity, therefore, than 
to make a course of study for a village school, for, as Emerson 
is reputed to have said : " If a man preach a better sermon, 
write a better book, or make a better mouse trap than his 
neighbor, though he build his house in the forest, the world 
will make a beaten path to his door." 

But let him be assured that tampering with the course 
of study is no trivial matter. He will do well to be wary of 
his own whims and hobbies ; they are liable to prove purely 
personal and of no social validity. Of a hundred such ventures 
but few are likely to prove valuable ; the rest may harm the 
children on whom the experiment is tried. Nor should the 
principal take too seriously the fads that sometimes originate 
in high places. One should understand that the problem 
of the curriculum calls for the profoundest insight into psy- 
chology, sociology, and history; and is a subject to which 
long, liberal, and discriminating study may well be devoted. 
The young principal should aspire ultimately to philosophic 
and practical mastery of the problem ; and meantime he may 
seek to adapt his school to the needs of the children by making 
such changes from time to time as he feels very sure of, after 
comparing his own ideas with those of educational leaders. He 
will also find that there is no more profitable and educative 
topic for discussion in his teachers' meetings than changes in 
the curriculum, especially if he is able to guide his teachers to 



Attendance, Curriculum, and Organization 117 

a study of the really valuable literature of the subject. Noth- 
ing will more surely reveal which are the thinking, plastic, 
professionally minded members of his staff. 

Drafting the New Course of Study. — For the actual work 
of revising the course of study the following suggestions may 
be offered. The first thing is to understand exactly what is 
required by the state authorities. This may be ascertained 
from literature that will be furnished by the state department. 
This once thoroughly mastered, the principal knows what is 
left to his own initiative. Next he will devote his spare time 
to the study of the problem. For material on the subject he 
should search the proceedings of the great educational organi- 
zations, the professional periodicals, the reports of experiments 
and investigations now being carried on by the great uni- 
versities and the great foundations, the bulletins and reports 
of the Department of Education, and especially the books 
on educational theory, by no means neglecting those that are 
written from the sociological standpoint. Especially should 
he study certain published curriculums that have now come 
to be recognized as standard. Several such are mentioned 
in the references at the end of this chapter. He will do well 
also to set his teachers to studying along the same lines. 
Teachers' meetings may be devoted to the discussion of the 
problem, preferably some of its more definite and concrete 
phases. Each teacher should be encouraged to make her own 
contribution. 

After more or less of this preliminary preparation the 
principal may write the outline of his new course of study. 1 
This he may present to his teachers in faculty meeting, ex- 
plaining to them the aims and purposes he has in mind, and 

1 Cf. Wallace, Proc. N. Dak. Edn'l Assn. 1908, p. 172. 



n8 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

the general features of his plan. Alterations may result 
from the discussions that should be encouraged. Each 
teacher should be given a copy of this outline, with instruc- 
tions to be prepared to fill in the details for her own grades. 
Before she submits her report it will be well for the principal 
to talk the problem over with her pretty thoroughly. It is 
advisable, moreover, to begin with the primary teacher, in 
order to get a practical course of study that classes can follow 
from the first grade to the twelfth. Inexperienced principals 
are liable to write too much into their course of study. It is 
better to have a course of study that can be taught than one 
that can have no existence except on paper. By this procedure 
the principal can avail himself of the actual experience of his 
teachers, for no one person can make a course of study; it 
must combine the point of view of the philosopher of education, 
who has a bird's-eye view of the whole field, with that of 
the teachers, who know schoolroom problems in detail. 

Finally, when his course of study is at last completed and 
put into operation, the principal must beware of resting on 
his oars. For in such times as ours curriculums never stay 
finished. In fact, the real curriculum, like all things else, 
never is but always is becoming. The course of study is not 
drawn up with the idea of depriving the teacher of her freedom 
and originality, nor is it to be applied too rigidly. It should 
serve, however, as chart and log book, making possible steady 
and unbroken progress. As such it is of vital importance 
that the teacher understand the nature, aims, and value of the 
course of study, and that she apply it with wisdom in her daily 
work. With the young teacher it may be advisable for the 
principal to draw up a systematic plan for daily work and 
see to it that the work is followed as outlined. Later this 



Attendance, Curriculum, and Organization 119 

may give way to weekly plans, and then to monthly. Prin- 
cipals will sometimes find it advantageous to have certain 
teachers make monthly progress reports, which can be checked 
with the course of study, and which thus insure the proper and 
judicious application of the course. There is considerable 
danger, however, of carrying this to extremes and of making 
teachers mere slaves of a machine. 

In the small school, with limited numbers of pupils and 
teachers, much alternation between different subjects in 
different years must be resorted to. This method will permit 
an enriched course of study without shortening the time to be 
devoted to each subject. 

C. Organization 

To fit the school to the needs of the child several changes in 
school organization are now being tried out. One is modified 
plans for promotion. Another is the effort to arrange school 
work as group projects. The third is the junior high school. 

The first of these has already been sufficiently discussed. 

Motivation. — The second is an attempt to secure better 
motivation. It is really based on the Froebelian theories of 
motor expression and social participation, especially as they 
have been elaborated in recent years by John Dewey. In a 
nutshell these theories are : first, that children learn best if 
they are actively engaged in some project containing a prob- 
lem of real interest to themselves ; secondly, that group 
acivities and teamwork are necessary in the educative process, 
for otherwise motives are lacking, and results are unsatisfac- 
tory both psychologically and socially. An example of this 
kind of motivation is to be found in a group of boys work- 
ing together in manual training on a piece of furniture or 



i2o Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

apparatus needed for some phase of school activity. Ob- 
viously such a project would not fit into the old-fashioned 
school where no work was tolerated except what could be 
done at the seats, recitation benches, or blackboards. The 
school has had to be reorganized in part at least to make 
room for such work. Manual training rooms and equip- 
ment have had to be furnished, and the opportunity has been 
afforded for free movement and conversation. 

There are those who now contend that practically all school 
work ought to be arranged and organized in some such way 
as this. They claim that such the schools of the future will 
be. And there is undoubtedly a stiff spine of validity in their 
contentions. Certainly no progressive principal can afford 
to ignore them. But such a fundamental reorganization of 
school work can — and no doubt fortunately — be worked out 
only gradually. Assuming sufficient ingenuity on the part of 
principal and teachers, the prejudices of the community will 
have to be overcome and the funds necessary for equipment 
and teaching force supplied. The only suggestion along this 
line that seems practical here is that the principal read such 
books as " The Schools of To-morrow " by Dewey, " The 
Brown Mouse," a novel, by Herbert Quick, together with 
books and magazine articles on motivation by the Wilsons 
and others ; and then put into practice in his school such of 
their suggestions as he thinks he can make a success of. To 
tell what to do and how to do it is out of the question, because 
in these matters each principal must be a pioneer. 

The Junior High School. — The junior high school, or the 
six-three-three plan, is designed primarily to meet the needs 
of early adolescence. The pupils of the seventh and eighth 
grades are young adolescents, but the old eight-four arrange- 



Attendance , Curriculum, and Organization 121 

ment did not provide for treating them as such. The six- 
three-three-plan does. Furthermore, the new arrangement is 
an improvement, since the ninth grade usually carries the 
pupil beyond the compulsory attendance age, and by making 
the ninth grade part of an uncompleted unit, instead of the 
beginning of a new unit, the pupil is likely to remain in school 
long enough to finish it. Ultimately the age limit is likely to 
be advanced to correspond. Besides, by giving the pupil 
a taste in the eighth and ninth grades of real secondary 
work, he is more likely to go on to the end of the twelfth grade. 

To adjust the school program better to the needs of early 
adolescents, the junior high school provides for departmental 
teaching, promotion by subjects, limited electives, the earlier 
introduction of secondary material, prevocational training, 
and more of the social participation type of class organization. 

About the only objection urged against this type of re- 
organization seems to have been that it might lend excuse for 
premature vocational training, thus interfering with the more 
liberal education so essential to American citizenship. But the 
whole trend of educational theory is against such a dangerous 
tendency, so that the objection is waived, and the junior 
high school seems to be the coming thing. It certainly has 
many cogent reasons in its favor. Not the least of these is 
that it will lead to economy of time in education, not by 
shortening the periods of elementary and secondary education, 
but by crowding the elementary subject matter into the first 
six years, and by filling the last six with really valuable 
material, of which there certainly is a plenty. 

It behooves the village principal, therefore, to inform 
himself about the junior high school, — its aims, organization, 
methods, and course of study. The best single book on this 



122 Administration of Village and Consolidated Sshools 

subject at the present moment is The Fifteenth Year Book of 
the National Society for the Study of Education, Part III, 
The Junior High School, by A. A. Douglas, published by 
the Public School Publishing Company, Bloomington, Illinois. 
The best bibliography of the subject to date is in the Elemen- 
tary School Journal for March, 1917, p. 256. This is pub- 
lished by the University of Chicago. 

The need of more room to house the school will often furnish 
a favorable opportunity to organize a junior high school, 
inasmuch as the old high school building can be utilized for 
the purpose. A new building for three grades may not seem 
such a formidable undertaking. Certainly a new school 
building should not be constructed without making provision 
for a junior high school. 

Pending the organization of a real junior high school, depart- 
mental teaching and some of the other characteristic features 
might be introduced into the seventh and eighth grades. 

REFERENCES 

Backman, Frank P. Problems of Elementary School Administration. 

Discusses the relation of attendance to retardation. 
Bobbett, J. F. The Curriculum. 

The most penetrating discussion of socialized education. 
Bonser, F. G. (and Staff). The Speyer School Curriculum. 

A thoroughly tested curriculum of recognized merit. Adapted es- 
pecially to the city situation. Address Bureau of Publications, 
Teachers College, New York City. Price, 60 cents. 
Cubberley, E. P. Public School Administration. 

Chapter XVII treats of the course of study and the superintendent's 
responsibility for the same. 
Dewey, John and Evelyn. Schools of To-morrow. 

A description of schools that exemplify the Dewey philosophy. In 
such schools the curriculums are significantly modified. 



Attendance , Curriculum, and Organization 123 

Douglas, A. A. The Junior High School. 

Part III of the Fifteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the 

Study of Education. 
The most comprehensive treatise so far (19 17) on the junior high school. 
Flexner, Abraham. A Modern School. 

Published by the General Education Board. In it is proposed and 
described the experiment which received so much comment in the 
periodicals of 19 16 and 191 7. Attacks the traditional curriculum. 
Geldermeister, Freda. Minnesota Course of Study and Manual for 
Teachers. 
A standard curriculum. Address State Department of Education, 
St. Paul, Minn. Price, 60 cents. 
Inglis, Alexander. Principles of Secondary Education. 

"A systematic analysis of the factors and principles involved in a 
constructive theory of secondary education." Contains curriculum 
suggestions, especially for the junior high school. 
Judd, Charles H. Recent Articles and Books on the Junior High School. 
Elementary School Journal, May, 1917, p. 674 fT. 
The best bibliography extant. Each book or article is ably reviewed. 
Kingsley, C. L. (and others). Cardinal Principles of Secondary Educa- 
tion, Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 39, 1918. 
The most discussed recent publication on the subject of secondary 
education. 
Quick, Herbert. The Brown Mouse. 
A novel. Very stimulating for a rural teacher. Suggests changes in 
curriculum and method. 



CHAPTER X 
THE HEALTH OF THE SCHOOL CHILD 

The New Attitude toward Physical Well-being. — A revolu- 
tion is occurring in our attitude toward the physical basis 
of education. There are no doubt several reasons for this. 
One is the fading of the old dualistic philosophy which set 
physical and spiritual over against each other to the super- 
stitious neglect of the physical. Another is the growth of. 
science, especially the various branches of biological science, 
which has emphasized the psychophysical unity of the human 
organism, and has made it evident that a normal physical 
life is necessary to mental achievement. Finally, health 
surveys of various sorts, especially physical examinations for 
the army, have revealed the wide prevalence of physical 
defects which interfere seriously with school work and with 
the future development and usefulness of the young citizen. 
Conserving the physical resources of the rising generation 
becomes, therefore, a very important item in our national 
policy, for we have no more valuable resources to conserve. 
The changed attitude toward the physical will result (i) in 
increased motor expression or self-activity in the school pro- 
gram ; (2) in additional attention to physical education ; 
(3) in school feeding ; and (4) in health work in schools. 

The Extent of Physical Defects. — The extent of physical 
defects is quite surprising. It is stated on good authority 

124 



The Health of the School Child 125 

that fully two thirds of the children in our public schools 
need expert medical attention of some sort. The ordinary 
principal will no doubt feel that his school is an exception, 
but a careful, scientific health survey would probably reveal 
what Dr. Hoag found in sixteen Minnesota villages: that 
28 per cent had frequent toqthache, 25 per cent frequent 
headache, 13 per cent frequent earache, 22 per cent blurred 
vision, 4 per cent discharging ears, 15 per cent frequent sore 
throat, 6 per cent diseased tonsils, and 6 per cent adenoids. 
And this survey does not specify malnutrition, defective 
teeth, tuberculosis, defective hearing, nor spinal curvature, 
not to mention the contagious diseases that scourge our 
schools every year. Some of these troubles the school itself 
causes, or at least aggravates, as nervous disorders, defects 
of vision and posture, and the various contagious diseases. 
For these reasons health work in the schools is spreading 
rapidly in all civilized countries, and no principal can afford 
to ignore the movement. 

Socialization of the Medical Profession. — One hundred 
fifty years ago, outside of New England, education was left 
almost entirely to the family. As democracy developed it 
became evident that that plan was inadequate. The general 
civic welfare was seen to require the education of all. Hence 
universal education at public expense grew up pretty generally 
in this country during the half century following the Revolu- 
tionary War. We are beginning to make the same change 
in health conservation. There are three reasons why parents 
neglect the medical care of their children : ignorance, poverty, 
and inertia. But the state cannot safely permit its children 
to be neglected. The development of health work in schools 
is only in its beginning, and is a part of a larger movement, 



126 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

viz., the socialization of the medical profession, a reform 
which sociologists l contend is long past due. The exploitation 
of medical science on a commercial basis is a serious handicap 
to civilization. Hospitals and clinics should be public in- 
stitutions, just as schools are, and doctors and dentists em- 
ployees of the state, just as teachers are. It would be well 
for the rising generation to be biased in the schools in favor 
of this reform. 

Organization of Health Work. — It is probable that the 
not distant future will see a system somewhat as follows : 
In the first place there will be a state educational department 
of health to have general supervision of health work in schools. 
Cities of considerable size will have health departments under 
jurisdiction of the school board and the superintendent. This 
department will maintain school clinics, both medical and 
dental. There are many children who need regular daily 
treatment, as, for example, in a case of discharging ears. 
When there is a doctor's office at the schoolhouse, where 
children can be treated free of charge, and without the trouble 
of a trip to a doctor's office down town, these cases can be 
adequately taken care of. The health department will also 
require the services of competent nurses, especially in schools 
where the free clinic is not yet established. A well-trained 
nurse can supervise the health work of a school almost as 
well as a doctor ; she will be able to discover nearly all the 
defects from which children suffer ; she can give daily atten- 
tion to anaemic, crippled, or tuberculous children, advising 
both them and their parents as to their proper care. She 
can also render valuable assistance to the teacher in the 

1 See Hayes' Introduction to the Study of Sociology, Index : " Medical 
science " and " Health." 



The Health of the School Child 127 

hygienic care of her class and classroom, and in the teaching 
of hygiene. But perhaps the most important service of the 
nurse is her follow-up work. A written notice to parents 
specifying the sort of treatment their children need seldom 
gets results ; but when the school nurse visits the home and 
has a tactful, sympathetic interview with the fond but ig- 
norant mother the needed treatment is secured in four or 
five times as many cases. Another function of the school 
nurse is to educate mothers in the dietary, sleeping, and 
ventilation habits of her housekeeping. 

The organization of health work in the country will always 
present more difficulty of administration than in a city be- 
cause population is scattered. But the county unit, discussed 
in a former chapter, will greatly facilitate health work in rural 
schools. With a school health department for the county, 
organized under the control of the county board, and a suffi- 
cient staff of nurses, assisted by local doctors on part time, 
the work can be made adequate to the needs of children in 
small villages and rural townships. Some counties already 
employ a school nurse with very gratifying results. 

Making the Best of Meager Resources. — The village 
principal's problem, of course, is to make shift in the matter 
of health work as best he can with the facilities at his dis- 
posal at the present stage of our development. Several 
states make some provision by law for medical inspection of 
schools. In North Dakota, for instance, this work is the 
duty of the county health officer. The principal should 
study the school law of the state he is working in, find out 
what services the school is entitled to, and make use of them.. 
In some places the local doctors can be induced to inspect 
children gratis once or twice a year. We refer, of course, 



128 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

to states where no legal provision is made for this work. In 
other places it will be found necessary to pay a small stipend, 
ranging from $100 to $500 per year, for this work. But 
through the initiative of the state law or the local school 
board or the generosity of the physicians, medical inspection 
ought to be secured. Dentists are usually willing to inspect 
the children's teeth gratis for the sake of the business it is 
likely to bring them. In the case of medical or dental in- 
spection, the notification card that is sent to the parents will 
not be sufficient. It will devolve upon the teachers to do 
the follow-up work, for, as has been stated, this cannot be 
neglected ; if it is the pupils will in a great majority of cases 
fail to receive the attention they need. In counties where a 
county nurse is employed her services can be utilized for the 
inspection of the children of the village, and for some of the 
follow-up work. The average county is too large, however, 
to permit one nurse to make any adequate inspection of all 
school children. It ought to be possible for two or three 
villages conveniently located to combine in employing a 
school nurse. This would be a good move in the right 
direction. 

In places where it is impossible for the principal to secure 
any expert assistance a health survey Can be made by the 
teachers themselves, by the aid of the children, that will be 
far better than nothing. Such a survey will result in dis- 
covering a large percentage of physical defects, and in the 
treatment of some of them ; and will serve to prepare the 
minds of teachers, pupils, and patrons for something more 
adequate. For this purpose the following question list is 
offered ; it will guide the teacher in making the sort of survey 
suggested. 



The Health of the School Child 129 

Teachers' Health Survey 

Pupil's Name Date 

A. Eye Defects? 

B. Ear Defects? 

C. Nose and Throat Trouble ? . . . . 

D. Bad Teeth? 

E. Growth Defects? 

F. Malnutrition? 

G. Nervousness ? 

H. Communicable Diseases {e.g. ringworm, lice, itch, impetigo, tubercu- 
losis) ? 

The results of this survey should be recorded on the cards 
that are provided for the purpose (see Figures 18 and 19, 
Chapter XV), the parents notified, and the records filed. 
The follow-up work necessary to treatment should be done 
by the teachers as far as their time and energy will permit 
— the long-suffering teachers ! 

Symptoms of Common Diseases. — The more the teachers 
know about the symptoms of common defects and diseases, 
the better. The most progressive normal schools are now 
training their graduates in this work, and the principal will 
do well to call the attention of his teachers to this study. 
The teacher should train herself to detect significant symp- 
toms in her pupils. The following summary of symptoms, 
compiled principally from Terman's " The Hygiene of the 
School Child " (in some cases verbatim) will be found useful 
as a manual, especially in making the health survey suggested 
above. 

The Snellen cards can be bought of almost any book dealer 
for a few cents. Directions go with them, and they are not 
difficult to use. Every teacher should have a set. Each 



130 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

eye should be tested separately. The Allport charts, de- 
signed especially for the use of teachers and nurses, can 
be had from F. A. Hardy and Company, Wabash Avenue, 
Chicago, 111. They have some advantages over the Snellen 
cards. 

The following are some common symptoms of eye defects : 
crossed eyes, peculiar head postures, frowning, holding book 
near eyes, difficulty of reading work on blackboard, red or 
sore eyes, headache (a common symptom), fatigue, sensitive- 
ness to light, nervousness, poor spelling or reading, blurred 
or double vision, scars on cornea, and seeing colors or move- 
ments of letters or lines. 

Defective hearing may be suspected from the following 
indications: pupil says "what?" or assumes peculiar pos- 
tures in the attempt to hear, or is inattentive, stupid, or 
expressionless; articulates, spells, or reads inaccurately; 
complains of earache, or has discharging ears (often hardly 
noticeable), or nasal breathing. 

Terman enumerates the following symptoms of adenoids: 
Open mouth and snoring at night, nasal voice, mouth breath- 
ing, dull expression and mental apathy, high arched palate, 
and prominent upper teeth. Other throat symptoms are: 
sore throat, tonsillitis, offensive breath, and rheumatism. 

If a child has toothache, or defective teeth that the teacher 
can easily see, or admits that he has not been to a dentist 
for a year, he should be induced to have his teeth looked over 
by a dentist. 

Curvature of the spine is indicated by round back or 
shoulders, projection on back, wing shoulder blades and flat 
chest, protruding abdomen, unequal height of shoulders or 
hips. Flat foot is indicated by turned ankle, shoe heel worn 



The Health of the School Child 131 

on inner side, toes turned out, stiff gait, and barefoot track 
that shows the whole footprint. 

Symptoms of malnutrition are pallid skin, soft, flabby 
flesh, slouchy posture, pufnness under eyes, listlessness, 
freaky appetite, nervousness, low mentality or physical en- 
durance, and shortness of breath. Terman quotes the follow- 
ing as the Oppenheim formula for determining malnutrition : 

girth of arm X 100 

; = 30 

chest girth 

The girth of arm is halfway between elbow and shoulder 
with arm extended ; the girth of chest is the average between 
expiration and inspiration. If the quotient is less than 
thirty, the child is probably a victim of malnutrition. Mal- 
nutrition is as often due to ignorance as to poverty. Many 
children will be found upon inquiry to have very inadequate 
breakfasts, often coffee and bread, or possibly only coffee, 
with no proteids and no fruits. When for any reason such 
a breakfast is followed by a cold dinner, the case is worse. 
Such conditions should be corrected if possible by the noon 
lunch, by instruction of children, and by bringing influence 
to bear upon homes. 

The following are symptoms of nervousness : 1 ill-controlled 
temper, abnormal emotions, poor muscular coordination, 
spasmodic movements, nail-biting, stammering, peculiar traits 
of disposition, bad sexual habits, headache, and micturition. 

One of the most serious health problems connected with 
school administration is the contagious diseases of children. 
The school is liable to spread these diseases, so that the 
consequent death rate is a direct result of school herding. 

1 Hoag and Terman, " Health Work in Schools," p. 70. 



132 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

The problem is to check the contagions as soon as possible. 
The modern theory is that these diseases are not transmitted 
except by personal contact, or by contact with things that 



1 

Diseases 


1 


.a 

& 


<u 

> 

I 


s 


CO 

a 

s 


XI 

to 
o 

u 

be 

'3. 

8 

-a 


8 

g 

u 


o 

Ph 

s 

C/3 


'5b 
_g 

"8 

CD 


1) 

> 

"S 

,£3 

a 


a 

cp 


'Lo 
>, 

s 

PL, 

CO 

"8 
"8 


o 

o 


1 


Catarrh 


V 




















V 








General Lassitude 




V 


V 


V 


V 










V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


Fever .... 




V 


V 


V 


V 


V 




V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


V 




Eruption . . 






V 




V 








V 


V 




V 








V 


Sore Throat 








V 


-V 


V 




















V 


Headache . . 








V 


V 


V 


V 






V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


Vomiting . . 






V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


V 


V 




V 




V 








Chilliness . . 








V 


V 


V 






V 


V 


V 


? 


V 




V 










v 


v 


v 


v 








V 


v 


V 


V 




v 




Rapid Pulse . 






V 


V 


V 












V 




V 




Loss of Appetite 






V 


V 


V 


V 






V 




V 


V 






V 




Nosebleed . . 


















V 






V 


V 








Restlessness 






V 


V 


V 


V 






V 




V 


V 


V 




V 




Cough 






v 










v 








v 






v 




Swelling Glands 






V 




V 


V 


V 




















Delirium . . 






V 


V 














V 


V 






V 




Slow Pulse . . 






















V 


V 








V 


Spotted Tonsil 








V 


V 

























Symptoms of Contagious Diseases. 



have recently been in contact with the patient. However, 
others besides the sick may carry the germs. These are 
called " carriers." " Carriers " are frequent with diphtheria. 
It is no longer considered a good practice to close school. 
Instead the patients are isolated as soon as symptoms are 
discoverable, sometimes as soon as the patient is known to 



The Health of the School Child 



133 



have been exposed, and until all danger of infection is past. 
The accompanying tables will serve as a guide in the detec- 
tion of infectious diseases, and in the prevention of contagion. 

Chicken pox Isolate patient from time of earliest symptoms till 

scabs disappear. 
Diphtheria Isolate all carriers, whether sick or well, till examina- 

tion proves them safe. 
Eye troubles Children with inflamed and sensitive eyes should be 

sent to physician for diagnosis at once, as some of 

these disorders are serious, and all require early 

attention. 
Itch Early treatment. Isolate till cured. Have all 

clothing that has touched the body boiled. 
La Grippe Teach patient proper care in sneezing, coughing, 

nasal discharges, etc. 
Measles Exclude for 14 days the patient and all who have not 

had disease. 
Meningitis Diagnose promptly and give Flexner's serum. 

Mumps Isolate patients till recovered, exposed persons for 

two weeks beginning a week after exposure. 
Scarlet Fever Isolate patient till after peeling, and inflammation and 

discharge of throat, nose, and ears. 
Smallpox Require vaccination of all. 

Whooping Cough Isolate patients till whooping disappears, suspicious 

colds for two weeks. 

To Prevent Spread or Disease. 



Responsibility for Home Conditions. — Reference has 
already been made to the responsibility of the school relative 
to the dietary habits of the children. It has similar responsi- 
bilities in matters of sleep, ventilation, clothing, etc. This 
will be accomplished in part through the teaching of hygiene. 
In fact one of the most important effects of health work in 



134 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

schools is the change it is destined to make in the teaching 
of hygiene, rendering it more concrete and practical. In- 
struction in the lower grades will be adapted to the social 
and intellectual development of the child. More attention 
will be devoted to forming the habits upon which health 
preservation is based. In the upper grades practical instruc- 
tion in bacteriology will be given, and hygiene will be taught 
by means of health surveys of the children themselves and 
sanitary surveys of homes, meat markets, bakeries, schools, 
dairies, etc., in which children and even parents will par- 
ticipate. These surveys will reveal to the teachers the pre- 
cise form of ignorance from which children are suffering. 
Sex instruction will be rationalized and systematized. In 
high schools girls will be taught the fundamentals of home 
nursing in preparation for the duties of motherhood. All 
this instruction, moreover, will be rendered concrete and 
practical by correlation with the medical inspection going on 
in schools. 

The Schoolhouse and Housekeeping. — One of the- most 
important aspects of health work in school is the application 
of sanitary and hygienic principles to school housekeeping. 
This is so important that a whole chapter (XIV) has been 
devoted to it. 

When a new schoolhouse is to be built very special pains 
should be taken to make it conform to the requirements of 
hygiene. This includes such matters as heating, lighting, 
ventilation, water supply, sanitation, and surroundings. In 
order to insure proper attention to all these considerations 
the principal should improve the opportunity to inform 
himself thoroughly on all these matters, and should induce 
the board members, and especially the building committee, 



The Health of the School Child 135 

to do the same. The importance of employing a competent 
and honest architect should be explained. Do not let the 
school board try to economize on a cheap, unprofessional 
architect, since the contractor, rather than the taxpayers, 
will be likely to profit by such parsimony. The equipment 
of the school is as important as any one feature of its con- 
struction, as any principal will discover who studies into the 
matter. The state law should be, and in most states is, a 
help to the principal in securing the facilities needed. 

Mental Hygiene. The professionally minded principal 
should adequately understand and appreciate the importance 
of mental hygiene as it applies to the school program and the 
educative process. The new Freudian standpoint in psy- 
chology has brought this subject to the fore in recent years. 
We now know that psychic normality and mental effi- 
ciency of adult persons largely result from conditions in 
childhood that are subject to control. Interest and happi- 
ness are not only essential to learning, but also to the normal 
development of the mind. Fatigue, discouragement, humilia- 
tion, consciousness of success, objective interests, and normal 
associations are as significant factors in the child's education 
as the subjects he studies. Such considerations as these 
underlie program construction, recitation methods, discipline, 
students' activities, and all other school processes. Mental 
hygiene is one of the coming subjects in pedagogy. 

The Best Books. — A chapter of this kind in such a book 
as this must of necessity be brief and merely outline in char- 
acter. To cover the subject with anything like adequacy 
would require a book at least as large as this. The reader 
is therefore referred to the Selected References. Special 
mention may be made here, however, of three books with 



136 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

which every principal should be familiar. These three books 
are Terman's The Hygiene of the School Child (1914), Hoag 
and Terman's Health Work in the Schools (1914), and Dress- 
lar's School Hygiene (1913). The first of these confines itself 
rather closely, as the title indicates, to personal hygiene. On 
this phase of the subject it is quite thorough. It has very 
little to say, however, about the construction and care of 
the school plant. Dresslar's book goes into the details of 
that, although it does not omit the other phases of school 
hygiene. The principal needs Dresslar's book for the in- 
struction it gives as to the care of the plant, but he has a 
very special need for it if a new plant is to be built. The 
book by Hoag and Terman deals almost entirely with medical 
inspection in its various phases. It says little or nothing 
about the school plant, and is not a treatise on personal 
hygiene. It is the book for the principal who wishes to do 
something progressive along the line of special health work 
in his school. The three books, therefore, supplement one 
another, and all three of them are indispensable. The prin- 
cipal who masters their contents may consider himself fairly 
well informed, for the present at least. A new book by Ayres 
and others has just appeared ; it is characterized below. 

REFERENCES 

Ayres, Williams, and Wood. Healthful Schools: How to Build and 
Maintain Them (19 18). 
This book is more recent than those mentioned in the text ; it corre- 
sponds to Dresslar's book, but contains more of the material of the 
other two. It is perhaps the best single book on the subject now 
available. 
Bancroft, Jessie H. The Posture of School Children. 
A standard work on posture. 



The Health of the School Child 137 

Bryant, Louise S. School Feeding (1913). 

A description of history and practice at home and abroad. The best 
book on the subject. 
Burnham, W. H. In Monroe's Encyclopedia of Education, articles on 
"Myopia," "Hyperopia," "Astigmatism," "Hygiene of the Eye," 
and "Hygiene of the Ear." In Pedagogical Seminary, articles on 
various phases of school hygiene : see 1904, p. 488 ; 1906, p. 293 ; 
1908, p. 155; 1910, p. 525; 1912, p. 395. 
Curtis, H. S. Play and Recreation for the Open Country. 

A useful book for teachers in small towns. 
Dresslar, F. B. School Hygiene. 

One of the three books on school hygiene that every principal must 
own. The best book extant on the hygienic construction and care 
of the school plant. 
Hoag, Dr. E. B., and Terman, L. M. Health Work in the Schools. 
This is one of the three books on school hygiene that the principal 
must own. It devotes special attention to medical inspection, and 
school clinics. 
Lay, Wilfred. The Unconscious Conflict. 

This is the best book for the layman on mental hygiene. It analyzes 
mental conflicts from the Freudian standpoint, and tells how to 
detect and correct them. 
McCuRDY, J. T. (editor). The American Physical Education Review. 

An excellent periodical. Published at Springfield, Mass., for $3.00. 
Terman, Lewis M. The Hygiene of the School Child. 

One of the three books on school hygiene that every principal must 
own. The most comprehensive of the three. 



CHAPTER XI 
PLAY AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 

The New Philosophy of Play. — Dr. G. Stanley Hall says 
that each of the great genius-bearing, progress-making epochs 
in human history has been preceded by a renascence of physical 
training. There are numerous indications that we are on the 
eve of a great awakening in this very matter. And certainly 
we need it! The old rural conditions, in which young and 
old found plenty of physical activity in the course of the day's 
work and play, are gone. Children are shut up in school- 
houses a much larger proportion of their time than in the old 
days. Terms are longer, lessons are to be learned at home, 
often school work is supplemented with music lessons, many 
children have work to do outside of school hours, often from 
bitter necessity. As a consequence the daily and weekly 
schedules of innumerable boys and girls, even in the villages, 
contain very little time for play. 

Now play is the child's birthright. There is no more 
justice in robbing him of the joy of play than there is in 
withholding political rights or a living wage from an adult. 
And the civilization that does so will eventually suffer as 
surely from one as from the other. Moreover the child needs 
play, especially play involving free physical activity, for his 
normal growth and development. This need is the school's 
responsibility and opportunity. The playground is the real 
schoolroom; here, if the educator knows his business, will 

138 



Play and Physical Education 139 

occur the best development of body, mind, and manners, and 
the best training for the social life of maturity. The school 
program that omits daily physical exercise is a criminal 
absurdity. The villages and cities of this country are full 
of boys in early adolescence who get no physical exercise 
from the beginning to the end of the week, especially in the 
winter months, except walking to and from school. The 
evil consequences, physical, mental, and even moral can be 
appreciated by none so clearly as by the alert, observant 
parent, though many educators are beginning to get their 
eyes open. Nothing is tending to awaken the public so much, 
however, as the examinations for army service and the dis- 
cussion of military training. Both point to the great need 
of physical education in our public schools. 

Physical exercise, especially of the play variety, pays ex- 
penses by the relief it affords in the matter of discipline. 
Visit the schools of a city where some of the principals pay 
conspicuous attention to playground activities, while others 
as conspicuously neglect them. At the one you will see a 
dozen or twenty games going on at the same time during 
intermissions, and the disciplinary problem negligible. At 
the other you will see groups of boys just standing around, 
and the discipline correspondingly difficult. Besides, the re- 
laxation makes studies easier. 

Physical development is requisite to mental and moral 
development. Hall contends that the muscles are almost as 
much the organs of the mind as is the brain. Muscular 
control is necessary to moral control. The Greeks demon- 
strated that physical exercise is a means of moral training. 
St. Paul was wrong : as a matter of fact bodily exercise is 
profitable unto godliness. There is no better place to train 



140 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

a boy in the control of his emotions than on the playground ; 
and this sort of training is fully as important as the kind 
children get out of their arithmetics and reading books. If 
social efficiency, not mere knowledge, is the aim of education, 
the principal will have to take the playground quite as seriously 
as the schoolroom. 

Social Participation. — But perhaps the most important 
value of play is in teaching children to mingle with their own 
kind, to do team work, and to observe the rules of the game. 
It is well known that the secret of success in many lines of 
work is to be " a good mixer." Certainly it is one of the 
secrets of happiness. But the child who always plays alone 
is not likely to develop social qualities. Conversely, it will 
often be found that the hermit-minded adult lacked oppor- 
tunities for group play in childhood and youth. Moreover, 
social and industrial activities consist largely of cooperative 
enterprises. Individualistic tasks are almost a thing of the 
past. Life is teamwork, and the best place to learn team- 
work is in the games of youth. Uncooperative adults will 
often be found to have missed this kind of sport when they 
were boys. The rules of the game are good for the boy. 
Whether competition in business is a good thing or a bad 
thing for society depends upon the rules of the game. 
" Knuckle down, shoot hard, don't fudge " is a rule of busi- 
ness as well as of marbles. The business man who will not 
obey the rules of the game is a pirate, and ought to go to jail. 
But the best way to learn fair play is to learn to play fair. 
This is an important item in the philosophy of playground 
management. 

Playground Equipment. — The playground must be 
equipped with reference to the needs of the various age and 



Play and Physical Education 141 

sex groups. For the little folks there should be seesaws, 
swings, low slides, etc. For the fourth to seventh grades 
there should be large slides, teeters, ladders, rings, and giant 
strides. These are dangerous for the little folks unless very 
carefully supervised. For adolescent boys there must be 
ample provision for the competitive games that they enjoy. 
The various kinds of ball games are the most popular : base- 
ball, football, basket ball, volley ball, etc. For adolescent 
girls much use is nowadays being made of rhythmical work, 
such as folk dances of all kinds. Hand work also is used, 
as basket making, raffia, etc. Some of the less violent 
games of ball are also quite popular with girls of this age. 
There is no reason except custom why adolescent girls should 
not appear on the playground in bloomers. Recess periods, 
it is true, are inconveniently short, but there is also no reason 
except custom why the traditional program, with two short 
recesses, should not be thrown on the scrap heap, and ade- 
quate provision made instead for a playground period that 
amounts to something. 

The investment necessary for playground equipment is not 
so formidable as it sounds. There are a great many games 
for which no equipment at all is necessary, the old-fashioned 
game of pull-away, for instance. Ball games can be financed 
with a dollar. Swings and teeter boards may be provided 
at very small expense. Some of the best equipment may be 
made by the boys of the manual training department out 
of piping or old boiler flues. Sand boxes and slides make 
fine problems in construction. Care should be taken, how- 
ever, to make these pieces of apparatus strong and safe in 
every respect for the children. The better they are built 
the less care and supervision they will need. 



142 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

All this implies a rather roomy playground. In villages 
where land is cheap there is no excuse for cramped, cluttered- 
up playgrounds. If the school yard is too small, the board 
should acquire temporarily, if not by purchase, some vacant 
lots near by, preferably, of course, a whole block. If the 
school premises are unavoidably cramped it is advisable to 
arrange the apparatus around the edge of the lot. The 
apparatus for different ages and sexes should be grouped by 
itself. This will leave a relatively large space in the middle 
for games. 

Provision should be made for winter sports if possible. 
Winter is the season of the year when it is most difficult to 
provide outside activities. But it is precisely the time of 
year when outdoor sports are most needed for the health 
and well-being of both children and adults. Nothing is 
more conducive to vigorous living than exhilarating winter 
sports. For this purpose some principals bank up the snow 
around the edge of the playground (the summer apparatus 
having been removed) and flood the inclosure, thus making 
a skating rink. This can be used not only by the children 
of the school, but also by adults. At small expense it can be 
lighted for use during the long winter evenings. 

It goes without saying that every village school needs a 
gymnasium. If the school is entirely destitute of this neces- 
sary equipment, a cheap shed open on the south side will, as 
a temporary makeshift, be found better than nothing. It will 
make possible outdoor exercise of limited variety on rainy 
days, and in all but the coldest weather. 

Playground Supervision. — All this equipment will be 
wasted unless adequate supervision is provided. Experience 
has repeatedly proved that children will flock to unsupervised 



Play and Physical Education 143 

playgrounds for a little while, but that sooner or later the 
playgrounds will be deserted, and the expensive equipment 
left to rot and rust. The reason is obvious : without super- 
vision the bullies dominate the situation. Might makes 
right and to the victor belongs the apparatus. For this 
reason unsupervised playgrounds are worse than useless be- 
cause they develop in children exactly the traits of character 
that are most undesirable from the social standpoint. Those 
of domineering temperament, on the one hand, form the 
habit of domineering. The weak and timid are afraid to 
venture ; or, if they do enter the sports, they are relegated 
to the servile stations in the game. Who has not observed 
boys playing ball? The big boys bat practically all the time, 
while the little fellows do the fielding. Sooner or later they 
get discouraged and quit. This has as bad an effect upon 
them as domineering has upon the bullies. It trains them 
to be failures and underlings. And conversely, in the super- 
vision of play, not only should the strong and aggressive be 
restrained and compelled to obey the rules of the game, but 
the timid should be encouraged and helped. Often they 
will develop into the best players, whereas, if left to them- 
selves, they would never have the chance. Such supervision 
the children themselves, even the bullies, are most prompt to 
appreciate. 

And what a parable there is in this for our whole industrial 
regime ! 

The supervision of his playground is a matter, therefore, 
to which the principal should give the most careful and 
thoughtful attention. To this end he should inform himself 
as to the conduct of games by reading the best books sug- 
gested in the References. Some of them give detailed in- 



144 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

structions for conducting children's games. He is most for- 
tunate if he has enjoyed a real play life in his own boyhood, 
and has participated in athletics during his college days. On 
the other hand he should realize that there is a profound 
philosophy underlying playground practice, and that its 
roots penetrate deep into biology, psychology, sociology, and 
history. 

It is as important for the board to provide a playground 
supervisor as it is to provide a teacher of high school mathe- 
matics. In fact, were we not blinded by tradition, we should . 
see that it is vastly more important. Higher mathematics 
will prove a valuable investment of time to only a few, while 
play is essential to the normal growth of all. It will usually 
be possible to employ a young woman who will devote part 
of her time to music supervision and part of her time to 
supervision of play. Other combinations will suggest them- 
selves to the inventive principal. Her services are likely to 
be inadequate, however, since they will meet the needs of 
only the girls and little children. A young woman can hardly 
supervise the play of adolescent or even pre-adolescent boys. 
She will be out of place in their active, competitive games. 
The most absurd example of such incongruity that can well 
be imagined is that of a pretty young girl trying to train 
pre-adolescent boys in military drill. The case, however, is 
not imaginary. If the principal depends upon a woman 
supervisor, the big boys will be neglected, and their needs 
are the most imperative of all. There should be a man on 
the teaching staff who can look after this phase of the work. 
If no one else is available the principal should look after it 
himself. In either case he should, as a rule, make it his busi- 
ness to appear on the playground during intermissions. He 



Play and Physical Education 145 

should require his teachers to do the same. There are obvious 
reasons why teachers should mingle with children in the 
activities of the playgrounds. For one thing, no teacher 
knows a boy till she sees him at play. Besides, the teachers 
need the exercise themselves. This implies, of course, that 
the schoolhouse be emptied of children during intermissions, 
except in bad weather ; or else that play periods be arranged 
so that some part of the school is on the playground all the 
time. 

Supervisors of play must not only be trained in the conduct 
of games, but they must above all have a sympathetic attitude 
toward children. What the children profit most by is play 

— free, simple, spontaneous, happy play. " It ain't play 
unless we can do as we please," one perfectly normal youngster 
protested. And his protest reveals a profound psychological 
principle. The play supervisor whom the children do not 
like is out of place on the playground. 

Pre-Military Training in the Schools of New York State. 

— The Great War, and especially our entrance into it, proved 
to be a most violent earthquake shock to all our thinking. 
Many of our most firmly fixed ideas have had to be entirely 
reconstructed. With respect to some matters we have un- 
doubtedly been shocked out of balance, and shall have to 
return to sanity later. The cigarette question is an example. 
It would no doubt be out of place at this stage of the dis- 
cussion to dogmatize on the matter of military training in 
our public schools. Whether that will long continue to be 
a debated issue remains to be seen. But certainly there can 
be no debate about the necessity for such physical education 
during school age as will lay a foundation of physical health, 
vigor, and normality. The patriotic principal will certainly 



146 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

have sufficient motive, therefore, for developing the physical 
side of his school program. 

In no state has the matter of physical training in public 
schools been more carefully and thoroughly worked out 
than in New York. In accordance with a law passed in 
1 91 6, a Military Training Commission was appointed to 
formulate a plan for physical training in the elementary 
and secondary schools of the state of New York. The com- 
mission consisted of Major General John F. O'Ryan, John H. 
Finley, Commissioner of Education, and George J. Fisher, 
M.D., a specialist in physical education. The following plan 
was outlined by this commission, the details being specified 
in their syllabus. 1 

A. A daily health inspection by the regular class teacher, 
to be correlated with the school medical inspection. It is 
expected that with a little practice teachers will be able to 
make this health inspection in a very few minutes. 

B. Setting-up drills of at least two minutes' duration at the 
beginning of each class period, or at least four times each 
school day, under the direction of the regular class teacher. 

C. Talks and instruction on hygiene. 

D. Supervised recreation, organized play, and athletics. 

E. Gymnastic drills, under the direction of a special teacher 
of physical training. 

The reader will observe that the suggestions for play, 
exercise, and medical inspection outlined in this chapter and 
the chapter on health (X) cover the spirit of the New York 
program with the exception of the setting-up drills, especially 
in schools where a regular teacher of physical education and 

1 See " General Plan and Syllabus for Physical Training in Elementary and 
Secondary Schools of the State of New York," 191 7, page 24. 



Play and Physical Education 147 

supervised play is employed. The principal who wishes to 
do systematic and adequate work in physical education will 
do well to take special thought for each of the five items of 
the New York program. 

All healthy children, especially high school pupils, need a 
good sweaty workout every day, followed wherever possible 
by a bath. Except for special purposes play and athletic 
games are the best forms of exercise. Calisthenic exercises 
and setting-up drills, though rather fatiguing for children, 
are useful for the correction of posture and the systematic 
development of all the muscles. They would prove a valuable 
addition to any school program. 

In order to assist the principal in introducing these exercises 
into each classroom the following description is offered of 
some of the setting-up exercises used at the Plattsburg Train- 
ing Camp. These exercises may be given for short periods, 
at least two minutes, several times each day. When the 
weather is pleasant it is well to march out of doors and give 
the drills in the open. When the weather or circumstances 
do not favor going out of doors, flush the room with fresh 
air during the drill. The teacher must lead these drills in 
a snappy, vigorous style, enjoying them herself and making 
the pupils enjoy them, must believe in them as health meas- 
ures, and must desire the results intended. Otherwise the 
best results will not be obtained. Be moderate at first, tak- 
ing care not to tire the pupils. Increase the vigor gradually, 
but do not overdo it. Signals can be given by counting one, 
two ; one, two. The sense of rhythm can be increased by 
the use of music. 

The drills are : 

1. Stand in good position with hands at side. At signal 



148 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

spring lightly, alighting on toes, with feet ten to twenty inches 
apart, depending on size of pupil, and at same time extending 
hands, palms down, to level of shoulders. Instantly return 
to original position. Repeat several times. 

2. Stand in good position with hands extended above head, 
palms forward. At signal bend forward, without bending 
knees, till finger tips touch floor. Instantly return to original 
position. Repeat several times. 

3. Stand in good position with hands on hips, fingers for- 
ward, toes turned well out. At signal squat as far down as 
possible, rising on toes. Instantly return to original position. 
Repeat several times. 

4. Stand in good position, elbows at sides, forearms for- 
ward at right angles, hands clenched with palms up. At 
signal thrust arms forward to level of shoulder, hands still 
clenched, palms down. Instantly return to original position. 
Repeat several times. 

5. Stand in good position with hands together behind hips. 
At signal rise on toes as high as possible. Instantly return 
to original position. Repeat several times. 

Great care must be taken to secure good posture, both in 
these drills and, through their aid, in all school and other 
activities. To aid in securing good posture habits the authors 
recommend a chart that can be obtained for a small sum from . 
the American Posture League, Inc., 1 Madison Ave., New York 
City. The chart shows a school boy standing in three pos- 
tures, two incorrect and one correct. The pictures are large 
enough to be seen by all if hung on the front wall of the school- 
room. This chart keeps the proper posture constantly before 
the pupils' attention, and so helps to establish the ideal. 

The reader is referred to the bibliography at the close of 



Play and Physical Education 149 

this chapter for a list of the most useful books for his guidance 
in the conduct of his playground work. Drafts, designs, and 
blue prints for playground plans can be secured from Fred 
Medart Manufacturing Company, St. Louis ; Narragansett 
Machine Company, Providence, R. I. ; and A. G. Spalding 
& Bros., New York, Chicago or San Francisco. 

REFERENCES 

Angell, Emmett D. Play. 

A good manual of classified games. 
Bancroft, Jessie H. Games for the Playground, Home, School, and 
Gymnasium. 
This is the most complete compilation of classified games on the 
market. It contains no theory, but instructions for conducting 
games for elementary schools, high schools, playgrounds, boys' and 
girls' summer camps, and miscellaneous parties. The best single 
book on the subject. 
Curtis, Henry. Education through Play. 
The most comprehensive work on the history, theory, and extent of 
the playground movement. 
Curtis, Henry. Play and Recreation for the Open Country. 
This book has had a tremendous influence in arousing interest in the 
social and recreational life of rural communities. 
Curtis, Henry S. The Reorganized Playground. Bulletin No. 16, 191 2, 

United States Bureau of Education. 
Hetherington, Clark W. The Demonstration Play School of iqij, in 
the American Physical Education Review for May, 191 5. 
A splendid essay on the theory of the playground. Advocates the 
reorganization of education on the basis of activities rather than 
subjects. Can be obtained as a reprint. 
Johnson, G. E. Education through Recreation. 

Published by the Russell Sage Foundation. Other literature may be 
obtained from this source. Should be in every principal's library. 
Leland, A. and L. H. Plans and Specifications for Playground Con- 
struction and Playground Apparatus. 



150 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Perry, A. C. Wider Use of the School Plant. 

A report by the Russell Sage Foundation (New York City) of practices 

in many cities. Contains two chapters (VI, X) on play and games. 

Playground and Recreation Association or America. The Play- 



A monthly magazine of great value. Published, price $2.00, at 
Madison Avenue, New York City. This association also publishes 
numerous leaflets on various phases of the playground movement, 
a list of which will be furnished upon request. Also the Proceedings 
of the Annual Playground Congress. 
Roth, Emil. Theory and Practice of Physical Education. 3 volumes. 

A handbook of exercises. 
Sperling, Harry. The Playground Book. 
A manual of all sorts of games for children : singing games, folk dances, 
playground athletics, playground games, and classroom games. By 
the aid of this book an untrained supervisor could make shift fairly 
well. 
Stecher, William A. Handbook of Graded Lessons in Physical Training 
and Games, in three parts. 



CHAPTER XII 
STUDENT ACTIVITIES 

The Necessity for Motivation. — The so-called student 
activities of school life are often looked upon as incidental to 
the real work of the school. They are often tolerated by the 
teachers to keep pupils interested in school life and to help 
them to work off their surplus energy, and so obviate some of 
the problems of discipline. Administrators who take this 
superficial view of the matter prefer as few student activities 
as possible, and teachers not infrequently discourage debating 
and orchestras, frankly affirming that they make too much 
work. Seldom do school boards increase the teaching force 
with the idea of providing enough teacher time to take care 
of these interests. 

Principals who take this view of the matter reveal a sad lack 
of insight, and are pretty sure to run unprogressive, uninterest- 
ing schools. Especially will the high school suffer at the 
hands of such a teacher. Elementary work can be motivated 
in other ways ; college students are supposed to appreciate 
the value of the curriculum subjects, but high school pupils 
are between hay and grass. As a rule they are too young to 
have any very definite purpose in life, and too inexperienced 
to see the value of the subjects they are studying even if they 
had such a purpose. Hence the bane of high school work is the 
flippant aimlessness that pervades the atmosphere. Student 

151 



152 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

activities, intelligently chosen and wisely directed, offer the 
most promising solution of this problem ; and happy is the 
village whose principal has the insight to realize this fact. 

Froebel's Theories. — Some of the classic pedagogical 
philosophies would reveal the value and aims of these activities 
if the light was turned upon them. Among such philoso- 
phies there has never been expounded a profounder than that 
of Froebel. Froebel is usually thought of as the founder of the 
kindergarten, and so he was, but the kindergarten was really 
little more than an incidental and very partial application of 
his philosophy. He intended his principles to be applied 
throughout the entire school system. Indeed they have been 
increasingly applied during recent decades, with the result 
that the elementary school is a wholly different institution 
to-day from what it was two generations ago. Not only 
so, but Froebel's principles live again in many of the most 
significant reforms now being advocated. And as for student 
activities, especially in high school, they are, or may be made, 
a startling realization of the aims of Froebel's theory. 

His two fundamental doctrines were self-activity or motor 
expression and social participation. By the first he meant that 
children must be given opportunity to act out their natural 
instinctive desires. Let them do what nature prompts them 
to do ; in this way they will have the experience nature intends 
them to have and exercise the faculties nature intends them to 
exercise. This is nature's law of development and therefore 
the fundamental law of education. And since Froebel's time 
the growth of psychological science has accumulated a great 
body of evidence that the learning process depends upon 
self-activity ; that children learn most readily when they are 
doing what they are naturally interested in doing. 



Student Activities 153 

Social participation means that children must be given 
opportunity to satisfy their social instincts. It is natural for 
young people to group together, to engage in group enterprises, 
and to crave the help and approval of their fellows. This is a 
most necessary preparation for adult life. It also is requisite 
to the learning process. For sociological and psychological 
reasons, then, social participation is good pedagogy. We 
now have scientific proof for what Froebel discerned as an 
insight of genius. 

The mere statement of these principles renders it obvious 
that they cover the case of student activities. And all this 
but reads a philosophy into what common sense tells us. 
Student activities furnish training in self-control, cooperative- 
ness, leadership and following, initiative and responsibility. 
They impart knowledge of human nature, practice in business 
methods, and experience in the ways of the world. And for 
these reasons they are perhaps even more valuable than the 
curriculum subjects themselves. This is illustrated his- 
torically by the English Great Public Schools. Their cur- 
riculums were almost useless from a practical point of view : 
nothing much but Latin and mathematics. Yet these schools 
trained the leaders of the nation and the makers of the 
empire. They did it largely through the give and take of 
student relations. Every high school principal should study 
the Great Public Schools of England. 

Motivation. — The motivation theory, of which school 
literature is now so full, also throws light on the utility of 
student activities. That theory demands that we interest 
children in school subjects by finding some vital connection 
between those subjects and the interests with which the 
children are daily surrounded. This is precisely what student 



154 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

activities can accomplish. Professor Hollister, in his High 
School and Class Management, discusses this matter in an 
exceedingly viable manner. He points out by way of in- 
troduction how Booker T. Washington used student interest 
and student labor to build up an entire institution. His 
students learned by doing, and their doing built up the 
Institute. Everything taught in the institution, moreover, is 
closely related to the life of the student community. The 
same sort of thing can be done in almost any school. Music 
and dramatization, for instance, belong in the curriculum ; 
but school work in these lines may be made to culminate in 
school or even public entertainments. In this way the school 
may develop resources for entertaining, not only the student 
body itself, but the public as well. And the planning and 
preparation of such public entertainments vitalize the school 
work. Dramatic work, for example, furnishes exercise for 
the English department; choruses and orchestras may be 
trained during general exercises ; the art and manual training 
departments may be called upon for help. Recitals consum- 
mate daily work in music; debates give public expression to 
class work in history, civics, and economics. Oratory and 
declamation grow out of and furnish motives for class work in 
English ; social gatherings give opportunity for the domestic 
science department to exhibit its work. They, or the science 
or manual training departments, may advertise themselves 
by holding " open house " for school or community. The 
social science department may study community life, make 
health or other surveys (see Chapter VI), and conduct com- 
munity center or other special activities. 

The department of agriculture can render a distinct service 
by advertising that it will test all seed corn or small grain, and 



Student Activities 155 

report back to the farmer on the results of the test. Some 
schools test milk also. Pupils in the manual training depart- 
ment, by inserting a notice in the local newspapers, can often 
find opportunity to be of service to patrons of the school by 
making small pieces of furniture or doing repair work. This 
lends interest to the pupil, enlists the cooperation of patrons 
in what the school is doing, and enables the pupil to make a 
little money to add to his savings account. The various 
departments of the school — music, dramatic, domestic 
science, manual training, and any special school organizations 
— should not be slow to offer their assistance in carrying out 
any worthy public enterprise not fostered by the school itself, 
i.e. Memorial Day exercises; Clean-up Day; Good Roads 
Day ; Arbor and Bird Day ; or a Community Picnic. It is 
not always wise for the school to take the initiative in these 
matters, but it should always be gracious about offering its 
services. 

" The extent to which the fundamental activities of life 
may thus be set up in the high school, closely correlated with 
the various subjects of study, and made to permeate the whole 
group of teachers and pupils, becomes readily apparent." 
And HoUister might add that by this means the village high 
school may solve the problem of wholesome community enter- 
tainment, and lead the progress of the community along 
industrial, social, domestic, and moral lines. Moreover, the 
school that does these things will enroll a much larger per- 
centage of the young people, and can, unless shiftlessly 
administered, do far better work in the curriculum subjects 
themselves. 

While student activities are more important in high school 
than in the grades, nevertheless they have their place in 



156 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

the grade school also. There the guidance of the teacher will 
be more obvious than in the high school. Regular school work 
may culminate in entertainments or contests. Pageants and 
plays are used in this way in the best schools. Some schools 
work up contests in declamation, essays, spelling, or map 
drawing. These exercises may culminate in an annual play 
day which takes in all the children of all the grades, and is 
preparatory to a county play day. The grades can also 
make valuable contributions to public programs put on by 
the school as a whole. 

The Special Problem of Motivating High School Work. — 
The real problem in handling school activities arises, though, 
in the high school. It is a good plan to have a member of the 
faculty act as class adviser to each of the high school classes, 
this adviser to interest herself in all the activities of her 
class, attend all their class meetings, and seek to work out a 
plan of wholesome recreation. 

The following plan has been in use in the school administered 
by one of the authors and has proved most satisfactory. The 
high school is organized into an athletic and literary society 
having regular meetings each Thursday morning. This 
society has a constitution, regular officers, and program, social, 
and executive committees. The constitution provides for a 
system of faculty supervision that does not interfere with 
student initiative. 

During the first month of the school year the entire member- 
ship of the society is divided into two sections. Each section 
selects a name and a captain. This plan could be adapted to 
very small schools including the seventh and eighth grades. 
The object of the division is the carrying out of a series of 
athletic and literary contests covering the whole school year. 



Student Activities 157 

This scheme also has a tendency to forestall class rivalries, 
which, as every experienced high school man knows, are to be 
avoided if possible. Teachers are selected as members of the 
divisions just as the pupils are, but are prohibited from enter- 
ing any of the literary contests. They may, however, be 
allowed to enter such athletic contests as are in the nature of 
group work, thus giving the teacher an excellent opportunity 
to meet pupils in a field quite different from the classroom. 
However, the teachers do not assume responsibility for the 
conduct of the sections. That resides with the pupils. 
The contests are of two sorts, as follows : 

I. Literary Events 

1. Spell Down. 

2. Declamatory Contest. 

3. Debate. 

4. Oratorical Contest. 

II. Athletic Events 

1. Volley BaU. 

2. Indoor Baseball. 

3. Basket Ball. 

4. Tennis Tournament. 

Each event carries with it a certain number of points, which 
are set down to the credit of the winning side. In the athletic 
events there are first and second boys' teams, and first and 
second girls' teams, so that practically everybody has an 
opportunity to participate. 

Additional athletic events, such as football and baseball, 
or entirely different types of events, might readily be added 



158 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

if the principal or pupils desired. Musical and dramatic 
contests will suggest themselves. Exhibits of the different 
departments would work in nicely. To each event of this 
sort would be given a numerical value to be credited to the 
winner. School projects could be counted, e.g. plots of corn, 
potatoes, onions, or other crops, pig or poultry raising, sewing 
or millinery work. Even social events could be counted. 
Each side could entertain the other under fixed rules, the 
quality of the entertainment being determined by impartial 
judges. In this way the scheme could be made to fit the 
varying tastes and capabilities of a large number of pupils, 
which is, of course, exceedingly desirable. It is of the utmost 
importance that there be something for all and that all take 
part. This scheme, moreover, furnishes a program of events 
running clear through the year. School life should be 
made happy and worth while, so that pupils will find it satisfy- 
ing, not merely a dull preparation for life. Before entering 
any of the final contests each division has its preliminaries for 
the purpose of selecting their best representatives. The score 
is posted in some conspicuous place as the events are played 
off, so that the interest is never allowed to lag. When the 
final event is finished the total score is computed and the 
side winning the largest number of points is awarded the prize. 
For a prize the whole society purchases a silver shield, or some 
other suitable trophy, and agrees to make it the permanent 
possession of the division winning it for three successive years. 
Each year the winning group has its name, score, and year 
engraved on the shield, and the same is displayed on the walls 
of the high school. Selecting the groups in the manner sug- 
gested they are usually quite evenly matched and neither side 
has much of a chance to win the shield permanently. 



Student Activities 159 

Interschool Meets. — All of these intergroup contests 
afford an excellent opportunity to select material for teams to 
represent the school in whatever interschool contests are 
planned. However, nearly all experienced principals question, 
at least in their own minds, the advisability of interschool 
contests which call for pupils being taken from their homes. 
Not many have the courage of their convictions, however. 
The objection to interschool contests is obvious : they throw 
pupils under influences which, at their immature age, they 
are not always able to meet. Girls' basket ball teams are 
often up nearly all night waiting for trains, sometimes under 
circumstances that are extremely undesirable. Furthermore 
there is too much tendency at best for American children to 
become precocious and blase. They are too much subjected 
to change and excitement. They ought to stay quietly at 
home far more than they do. Wise parents do not wish their 
young high school children hustled from town to town ; it 
makes them too world-wise. Precocity is the bane of Amer- 
ican childhood. For this reason interschool contests are to be 
discouraged, except, perhaps, for high school seniors. Princi- 
pals who have the courage to take this stand will find parents 
approving it, especially if they explain the reasons publicly, 
and at the same time work up a satisfying local program. 

It goes without saying that if interschool contests are 
indulged in, teams must be most carefully chaperoned. The 
moral ideals of the athletic coach are therefore of the highest 
importance. It is very gratifying, however, to note that 
pupils are just as much interested in the intergroup games and 
contests described above ; and they certainly have a far more 
wholesome effect on the school than the interschool contests. 
Incidentally this takes care of the problem of school spirit. 



160 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Various Special Activities. — There are perhaps a few forms 
of student activity each of which deserves a special paragraph. 

The severer sorts of athletics are to be discountenanced. 
The strain is detrimental to young boys. Even colleges are 
beginning to discourage them. 

General exercises are an important part of the daily schedule. 
The period should frequently be utilized for the kind of 
programs suggested above. It also affords excellent oppor- 
tunity to rehearse choruses and give practice to the school 
orchestra. 

Music has far too small a place in the ordinary curriculum. 
The principal should give all the encouragement he can to 
voluntary musical organizations. By displaying them cleverly 
he can usually develop a public sentiment that will warrant 
the board in providing more music teaching. Boys at the 
age when their voices are changing constitute a special problem 
in music teaching. It is a good idea to encourage them to 
organize mandolin clubs. Since the mandolin is strung like 
the violin, a violin teacher can handle mandolin classes. 
The novelty usually appeals to the boys, so that at just the 
age when they are likely to lose interest permanently in 
music, they learn instead to read music and to play an instru- 
ment. Later it becomes an easy step from mandolins to 
violins, for the reason just stated ; so that out of the mandolin 
club, violin players are likely to develop. The knowledge of 
music gained in the mandolin club also paves the way for 
vocal music later. 

There is probably no other student enterprise that will 
correlate with all departments of school work, and which has 
so many other claims to consideration, as a school paper, 
edited, composed, and printed at the schoolhouse. This 



Student Activities 161 

enterprise is being undertaken in some large high schools, 
and there is no reason why a small school cannot undertake 
something of the sort, if nothing more than a section in the 
local weekly. Material can be furnished by all departments. 
It affords admirable motivation for teaching language, the 
manual work appeals to a certain type of mind, business 
experience and responsibility are involved in the enterprise, 
numerous mathematical problems can be furnished to arith- 
metic classes, and the sheet can be used to advertise the 
school and create sentiment in favor of the principal's policy. 

A school employment agency is a good thing. It might 
serve as the entering wedge for a part time arrangement that 
would keep longer in school the boys who must work. 

Dancing, as a rule, is an undesirable form of recreation under 
school auspices. It is questioned on psychological grounds, 
especially if indulged in excessively. Children of high school 
age are liable to be overstimulated by it, so that, as soon as 
the reaction sets in, they are bored by ordinary, humdrum 
experiences, tasks, and duties. If parents were willing to 
attend school dances and participate in them there would be 
no great danger, but there are probably very few places where 
parents would do this. Therefore the youngsters are usually 
left largely to themselves. Sometimes teachers are the kind 
that could and would supervise such asocial function, but 
more often we do not have teachers whom parents desiring the 
highest good of their children would feel like trusting implicitly 
with boys and girls on such occasions. There are always 
pupils whose parents object to their dancing, for moral and 
religious reasons. If the school encourages dances these 
pupils must either remain at home, become wall-flowers, or 
break down the moral standards they have learned at home. 



162 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

This last is a serious moral shock to persons as yet too young 
safely to assert intellectual self-reliance in the matter of 
moral code making. 

While there are many village schools which have too few 
student activities, there is danger on the other hand that the 
matter be overdone, and especially that participation be 
poorly distributed. Some pupils are apt to take part in too 
many things, while others are liable to be left out altogether. 
The principal should formulate, or cause the students them- 
selves to formulate, some rules to prevent pupils getting too 
many irons in the fire at once. The greater the variety of 
student activities the less liable the reticent ones are to be 
left out. But with a growing multiplicity of such activities 
there is danger of the tail wagging the dog. New organiza- 
tions should not be permitted without faculty approval. 

Student Finances. — Student activities involving the ex- 
penditure of money should be handled in conformity with 
good business usage. There are two reasons for this : (i) 
it teaches the students what good business usage is ; and (2) 
it safeguards them from temptations that might train them in 
dishonesty. The second is very important indeed. Both the 
collection and the expenditure of money should be systemati- 
cally supervised. No assessment should be made without 
the O. K. of the principal or an advisory committee of the 
faculty. Students should be taught to consider their budgets 
carefully, before presenting them to the principal for his O. K. 
When an assessment has been O. K.'d by the principal the 
collectors should receive from the school auditor an official 
number designating the particular assessment, together with 
recorded receipt books. The money should be turned in to 
the school auditor and the receipt stubs checked up. 



Student Activities 163 

For the purchase of goods a requisition blank should be 
filled out by the students and O. K.'d by the principal or 
advisory committee. This blank should be made out in 
triplicate, one to be returned by the principal or advisory 
committee, one to be turned over to the school auditor, and 
one presented by the student to the merchant. The student 
writes in his requisition blank the prices charged by the 
merchant, but the merchant sends his bill to the school auditor. 
Obviously the student's purchase must not exceed the requi- 
sition. The books of the society treasurer will then record 
on one side the requisition which the student turns in, and 
on the other the auditor's voucher for payments made in 
behalf of the society. A simpler but far less satisfactory 
method is to audit the society's receipted bills, holding officers 
of the society personally responsible. 

Aside from the matter of business methods it may be 
remarked that students who have more money to spend than 
is good for them often exert disproportionate influence, for 
obvious reasons, in the levying of society and class assess- 
ments, while the children of the poor often suffer serious em- 
barrassment from such thoughtless assessments. Principals 
should guard against this evil, and train those who have, to 
be thoughtful of those who have not. 

The Cooperation of Institutions. — The principal who has 
raised a family, or who has the sociologist's appreciation of the 
social function of the family, will realize that the school ought 
to cooperate far more studiously with the home than it does 
in most places. Getting up something for young people to 
go to may be a useful service for those young people who would 
otherwise be in objectionable places, but for the adolescent 
whose recreation and happiness are carefully provided for at 



164 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

home it is a doubtful benefit, to put the matter mildly. 
Children and adolescents ought to be occupied at home with 
their share of the family work, and with music, good books, 
popcorn and taffy, mother's stories, and other happy expe- 
riences around the fireside. To infect the youth who has such 
a home with the go-somewhere-to-night bacillus is a distinct 
damage to him. Once a week away from home is often 
enough for such fortunate youths. The school should overtly 
encourage such family life. And by cooperating with intelli- 
gent, careful parents many happy social functions can be held 
at the homes instead of somewhere else, thus strengthening 
instead of weakening normal home ties. 

It is but a short step from the wholesome development of 
student activities in the village school to the solution of the 
problem of wholesome recreation for the village. A school 
with a community life within itself readily becomes a com- 
munity center for the village. For instance it would not be 
difficult to prepare some kind of entertainment to be put on 
at the schoolhouse every Friday evening. If schools, churches, 
and other social units could cooperate in this it should work 
out even more satisfactorily ; though the meeting might not 
always occur at the schoolhouse. If, then, study hours could 
be maintained four nights a week, by cooperation of parents, 
teachers, and city officials, a much more desirable situation 
would obtain than is usual in most small towns. The co- 
operation of institutions in recreational activities would be 
exceedingly advantageous in many respects. As a step in 
that direction we recommend that the schools omit all Christ- 
mas and Easter programs. Those occasions belong to the 
churches ; but of late years the schools, by usurping a field 
that does not belong to them, have made it almost impossible 



Student Activities 165 

for churches to do anything with the children at those religious 
seasons. There is, however, certain Christmas and Easter 
music used in all churches that might by special arrangement 
be prepared by the schools for use at the churches. 

REFERENCES 

Barnhard, E. W. Student Finances, in Proc. N. E. A., 1915, p. 908. 
The authors are indebted to this article for the suggestions contained 
in this chapter. 
Bawden, W. T. The School Paper, in Manual Training Magazine 

(Peoria, 111.) for April, 1916, p. 641, and June, 1916, p. 788. 
Bennett, H. E. School Efficiency. 
A new book on school management. Contains chapters bearing on 
student activities. 
Brown, J. F. The American High School. 
A good book for high school principals. Chapter XI, Social Life, is 
full of good ideas and concludes with a good bibliography. 
Dewey, John and Evelyn. Schools of To-morrow. 

Shows how to organize school work on the self-activity, social-participa- 
tion theories. 
Forbush, W. B. The Boy Problem. 

Discusses boys' organizations in an illuminating fashion. 
Harwood, Hazel M. Extra-Curricular Activities in High School, in 

School Review (University of Chicago), April, 1918. 
Hollister, H. A. High School Administration. 

A valuable book, certain chapters, particularly IX, X, and XV, 
bearing on the subject of this chapter. 
Hollister, H. A. High School and Class Management. 

Chapter X, on The Informal Side of the School, is a very suggestive 
article, referred to in this text. 
Pound, Olivia. The Need of a Constructive Social Program for the High 
School, in School Review, March, 19 18. 
Based on the experience of various city high schools in the conduct of 
student activities. 
U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 46, 1914. School Savings 
Banks. 



1 66 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Wilds, E. H. The Supervision of Extra-Curricular Activities, in School 
Review, Vol. 25, p. 659. 
A study of current practices. 

Wilson, H. B. Socializing the School Program, in Educational Adminis- 
tration and Supervision (Warwick and York, Baltimore). 



PART FOUR 
THE BUSINESS SIDE 



CHAPTER XIII 
THE MATERIAL EQUIPMENT 

The New School Plant. — A revolution in the type of 
plant required to house and equip our schools is in rapid 
progress. The old-fashioned village schoolhouse consisted of 
a building with two to eight rooms for the elementary grades, 
and a high school assembly room with one or more recitation 
rooms, depending upon the size of the village. Heat was 
provided by stoves or hot air furnaces, and ventilation 
was through windows and doors. All the ground required 
was for a small playground. These old buildings are rapidly 
giving place to plants better adapted to modern theories and 
practices in education'. The program of studies and activities 
is becoming more varied, and these curricular innovations 
require much more elaborate equipment and facilities than the 
old curriculum called for. A new type of building is accord- 
ingly evolving. In addition to study and recitation rooms, the 
new type of building must provide library, gymnasium, 
swimming pools, baths, toilets, laboratories of various kinds, 
shops, art rooms, music and drawing rooms, kitchens and 
dining rooms, modern heating, and ventilating and cleaning 
equipments. Outside there must be ground for gardening and 
soil experiments, facilities for other agricultural instruction, 
and provision for a great variety of athletic sports. Moreover 
the " wider use of the school plant" for community purposes 

169 



170 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

demands a wider plant adapted to such uses. And there 
are indications that school activities will be modified and 
expanded as much in the next fifteen years as they have 
been during the past forty. Therefore, only the most thorough 
student of educational theory is prepared to advise a school 
board in the construction of a permanent school building. 
Many of the structures now being built at large expense will 
undoubtedly prove an obstacle to educational progress in the 
not distant future. 

It follows, therefore, that school architecture is one of the 
subjects on which the rising young superintendent must 
inform himself thoroughly. He needs such information, on 
general principles, as a part of his professional preparation; 
he needs it also in order to lead the sentiment of his board and 
his public in the direction of needed improvements in equip- 
ment and plant. But the village principal has the most 
immediate need for such information if his board is about to 
build a new schoolhouse, or even remodel their old one. The 
country is full of " constructional blunders," expensive handi- 
caps to educational progress, for which ignorant superin- 
tendents are at least in part responsible. The scope of this 
book precludes a discussion of the principles of schoolhouse 
construction. We limit ourselves to the suggestions in the 
References as to the best sources of information on that sub- 
ject. 

The children of the future should, however, have some more 
adequate protection from the ignorance of present day school 
boards and the parsimony of taxpayers than merely the 
intelligence and meager influence of the principal who happens 
to be in charge when the building is put up. Building codes 
are needed in many states, and laws, recommended by building 



The Material Equipment 171 

experts, that will compel and direct the proper construction, 
reconstruction, and equipment of school buildings. 

Remodeling the Old Building. — There is a special use for 
his knowledge of school architecture which any principal is 
likely to have at any time in the course of his year's work, 
and that is in the suggestion and superintendence of repairs. 
It often happens that with a relatively slight expenditure for 
repairs or remodeling the usefulness of an old plant can be 
greatly increased. For instance, one of the writers recently 
visited a small village school in which the mere removal of a 
partition, with the substitution of folding doors or a rolling 
partition, would provide the community with a better audi- 
torium than the town now possesses. The other author knows 
a small school where the principal wished to work out a junior 
high school, but had been prevented from doing so because of 
having no room large enough to house it. After studying the 
matter over more carefully it was found that by removing the 
partition between the seventh and eighth grade rooms ample 
seating capacity could be provided as well as space enough to 
partition off two small recitation rooms. This would un- 
doubtedly be the case in a great many of our older type of 
buildings. It sometimes happens that money is spent for 
ill-advised repairs. In his survey of the Salt Lake City schools 
Professor Cubberley 1 cites the case of new floors laid at con- 
siderable expense in buildings where alterations of rooms and 
improved toilet facilities were much more needed. He points 
out that in the matter of repairs preference is apt to be given 
to the kind of repair work that is the simplest, which requires 
the least planning and supervision, and which is at the same 
time of the least educational benefit. Boards have been known 
1 School Organization and Administration, p. 266. 



172 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

to go to the expense of fitting up a couple of attic rooms or 
even of digging out and walling up the basement under the 
building, in either case getting rooms that were very unsatis- 
factory from the standpoint of accessibility, light, and ven- 
tilation. The same amount of money, wisely expended and 
planned, would have put on an addition to the main school 
building much better adapted to the needs of a school. Such 
mistakes would be prevented if the principal himself were 
intelligently informed in the matter of school architecture, 
and capable of intelligent foresight and supervision. If he is 
so qualified he will secure an appropriation for repairs and 
alterations in the annual budget, and the money so appro- 
priated will be made to yield the largest possible returns in 
increased school efficiency. 

Equipment. — It is not only necessary for the principal to 
know what a well built school is, but he must know also 
whether or not his school is well furnished. For the guidance 
of inexperienced principals the following inventory is suggested. 

The primary room should contain : 

1. Pupils' adjustable desks. If adjustable desks are not 
available desks should be of different sizes. 

2. Teacher's desk, which should be provided with locks 
and keys. 

3. Teacher's closet or storeroom in which to keep supplies 
in a neat and orderly manner. 

4. At least two good pictures, more if possible. Fewer 
pictures of a better class are to be preferred to a larger 
number of cheaper pictures. 

5. Sand table, minimum size, 3 ft. by 6 ft. 

6. Kindergarten tables and small chairs enough to 
accommodate one class at a time. 



The Material Equipment 173 

7. Wall clock. 

8. Window shades with adjustable rollers that may be 
raised or lowered to shut off the light from any part of the 
window. 

9. Ample blackboard space. No blackboard is so satis- 
factory as slate. While the first cost is much more than that 
of the composition boards, in the long run slate is cheapest 
and costs far less to keep in repair. 

10. Pencil sharpener. These are now very inexpensive, 
costing from $1.50 up, and are a convenience that should not 
be overlooked. 

11. Eraser cleaner. While the cost of these may be pro- 
hibitive in some cases, it is the most satisfactory plan to have 
a small electrically driven eraser cleaner in each room, and 
to have the children take turns in keeping the erasers clean. 

12. Paper cutter for the teacher. 

13. A few practical books on primary work for teacher's 
use. 

14. Such textbooks, paint boxes, crayolas, scissors, and 
other kindergarten material as the teacher feels the need of. 

1 5 . Teacher should be supplied with all blanks required for 
making reports to principal or superintendent. 

Speaking of equipment for the primary room, one of the 
most interesting and satisfactory experiments that either of the 
authors has ever tried was to take out all pupils' desks, and 
have low tables instead, accommodating ten pupils each, with 
small kindergarten chairs. Each table was provided with 
one or two paste bottles, one cone of pins, scissors enough for 
each child, one small box for drawing paper, one for writing 
paper, and what other material the work of the children re- 
quired. The children kept their books in small individual 



174 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

boxes arranged at one side of the room. Each table was 
conducted on a little community plan, each child taking a 
keen interest in having his table kept in neat and tidy order. 
Very soon after the introduction of his plan the children 
learned to say " Please pass the paste/' or " Please hand me a 
sheet of paper." This freedom, instead of being tied to an old 
style desk, was productive of excellent results. Furthermore 
the room could very easily be cleared for the playing of games 
requiring considerable room. If the schoolroom is large 
enough, a homelike atmosphere may be created in a primary 
room by arranging a cozy corner with decorations to suit the 
season. As a special favor pupils may be granted the priv- 
ilege of spending a half hour or so in this corner, entertaining 
themselves by reading some favorite story book, looking at 
pictures, or in similar occupation which is especially attractive. 
This idea is susceptible of application in the higher grades 
also. 

Equipment for other grades will be the same as for the 
primary with these changes : 

Kindergarten material will be omitted. 

Each room should be provided with at least five sets of 
supplementary readers. 

All grades above and including the fourth should be provided 
with wall maps and suspension globe. 

Grades above and including the fifth should have individual 
dictionaries suited to their age, and also one unabridged 
dictionary for each room. 

Each grade should be supplied with one or more sets of 
geographical readers. 

The materials necessary for the standard tests should be 
kept on hand in each grade or in the principal's office. 



The Material Equipment 175 

Laboratories are assuming a more prominent place in the 
equipment of a school. It is impossible to teach well geog- 
raphy, physiology, biology, chemistry, physics, manual 
training, domestic science, or agriculture without fairly 
well-equipped laboratories. Space does not permit going 
into the equipment required for each of these subjects. 
Teachers of these departments should be qualified to equip 
their laboratories. Suffice it to say that the laboratory method 
in every case is far more satisfactory than the textbook 
method. 

The high school at least, and as many other grades as 
possible, should have a piano. A victrola is likewise a most 
desirable piece of equipment. If the school is to become the 
center that it should be, it will also have a stereopticon or 
moving picture machine. 

Drinking fountains should be provided on each floor and 
in places most accessible to pupils. 

As for textbooks, it will be found most satisfactory in the 
long run to have the district furnish them. In fact it is an 
implication of compulsory attendance. Free texts will cost 
the district much less, can be kept neat and clean by using a 
new paper cover whenever the book changes hands, and can 
be more easily changed without loss to the taxpayers of the 
community. It is perhaps a good idea to have children make 
a deposit of fifty cents or a dollar. to cover loss or damage 
through carelessness on the part of a pupil. At the close 
of the year the deposit is returned to pupils with any de- 
duction necessary. This prevents carelessness and loss of 
books through negligence. One of the authors has usually 
been able to get the consent of parents to let children have 
this deposit fee, or what remains of it at the end of the year, 



176 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

to start or add to the pupil's savings account. Thus about 
80 per cent of the pupils have become savings depositors. 
The result is that they are very keen about taking care of 
books loaned to them in order to have the whole deposit fee 
returned at the close of the year. The rubber stamp below 

' CARRINGTON, N. D. PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



To Whom Loaned 


Loaned 


Returned 


Remarks 











































































Fig. 5. Stamp for free textbooks. 

is found satisfactory in marking free textbooks. In the 
" remarks " column is noted condition of books when loaned 
or fine collected when book is returned. Books are numbered 
serially with the addition of numerals indicating year of 
purchase. Thus a set of arithmetics would be numbered 
117 — 217 — 317, through the whole set, the first number 
being the serial number, and the 17 indicating that the book 



The Material Equipment 177 

was purchased in 191 7. This gives in a simple way a good 
record of the life of a book, and a teacher can easily ascertain 
the age and usage of each book. 

Magazines and Books. — Beginning with the fifth grade 
each room should have access to some good magazines. In 
the schools of Carrington, North Dakota, the following are in 
use : 

Fifth grade : Rotary. 

Sixth grade : American Boy. 

Seventh grade : National Geographic. 

Eighth grade : Youth 1 s Companion and Popular Mechanics. 

High School: World's Work, American, Ladies' Home 
Journal, Everybody's, Century, Current Opinion, Literary 
Digest, Good Housekeeping, Technical World, and North 
American Review. These magazines, as the current issues are 
received, are put into a substantial binder (such as the Bull- 
dog Binder, Gaylord Bros., Syracuse, N. Y.) and at the close 
of the week or month are filed in the school library for refer- 
ence. 

The upper grades should have some brief, practical ency- 
clopedia in the room, and the high school at least one of the 
more exhaustive or more technical sets of encyclopedia. Too 
much emphasis cannot be put on the reference library. We 
have been drifting away from the doing of reference work, 
and our schools should attempt to counteract the tendency, 
provided 'accurate and thorough work with textbooks is not 
neglected. Ample provision, as ample as funds will permit, 
should be made for this work. Most states publish a list of 
approved library books. They should be classified and cata- 
logued according to the Dewey System, even in a small school. 
It may be impossible to employ a librarian, in which case it is 



178 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

well to select a member of one of the upper classes to act as 
librarian, teaching him the fundamentals of library practice 
and perhaps allowing a half unit of credit for the time taken 
and the work accomplished. 

The Principal's Office. — This is perhaps an appropriate 
place to say a few words about the arrangement of the prin- 
cipal's office. The economy of time and nerve strain with 
which he works will depend considerably upon the convenience 
and orderliness of his office. Besides letters, for which there 
should be a convenient file, all sorts of records, bulletins, 
catalogues, and advertisements will accumulate. Some 
arrangements must be made for sorting and filing these for 
future reference. Various cabinets are on the market for 
this purpose. In lieu of something expensive homemade 
pockets can be used, such as are used in libraries for holding 
bulletins and pamphlets. The back and bottom are made of 
thin boards and the sides of poster board. They can be kept 
on book shelves, each one labeled on the back as to its contents. 
These files may be purchased from Andrus and Church; Ithaca, 
N. Y., at six cents apiece. If the files are kept up to date by 
replacing the old with new editions as they appear, the prin- 
cipal will find them a very neat and convenient arrangement. 

The principal's office should contain suitable shelves, or 
better still, closed cases, where these files may be kept free 
from dust. Files should be arranged alphabetically. The 
following heads are suggestive. 

1. Agricultural bulletins. 

2. Agricultural catalogues. 

3. Art catalogues. 

4. Book catalogues. 

5. Furniture and fixture catalogues. 



The Material Equipment 179 

6. General school supply catalogues. 

7. Inspectors' reports. 

8. Local bulletins or clippings. 

9. Manual training catalogues. 

10. Play and entertainment catalogues. 

1 1 . School catalogues . (The principal should keep on file an 
up-to-date list of catalogues from his own state schools and 
other colleges.) 

12. Science catalogues. 

13. State examinations (old sets). 

14. School laws of his own and other states. 

Every school man subscribes for and reads some educational 
magazine. Many of the valuable and suggestive articles 
appearing therein would be useful later on if some method 
of cataloguing them were devised. The complete files of the 
magazines can be kept and a small card index made of the 
most noteworthy subjects treated. 

In order to systematize things so that the great amount of 
work which devolves upon the principal may be taken care of 
with a minimum of time, he should be provided with some 
sort of filing cabinet wherein he may keep folders containing 
all material or correspondence bearing on any particular sub- 
ject or activity. It will be found a matter of great con- 
venience to have folders filed under the following headings : 
Athletics, Alumni, Commencement, Contests, Directions to 
Teachers, Disciplinary Cases, Enrollment, Janitors, Inven- 
tories, Lectures and Entertainments, Medical Inspection, 
Programs of Teachers, Reports, Records, Supervision, 
Teachers' Credentials, Teachers' Meetings, and Tuition Pupils. 
Such a file will save the proverbially absent-minded principal 
many an embarrassment. 



180 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

His office should also contain such bookcases as are needed 
for what professional books he may have immediate use for, 
also for copies of all the texts used in the various rooms, as 
well as textbooks in similar subjects by other publishers. 
He should also have a convenient place wherein to keep the 
records of pupils under lock and key. His desk should be 
likewise protected. Two very essential pieces of apparatus in 
the principal's office are a typewriter and a mimeograph. 
While the initial cost is quite heavy the work of the principal 
demands them and they will prove a great convenience and 
wiLl add materially to the success of his work. 

Janitorial Equipment. — Just a word in regard to the equip- 
ment needed by the janitor. The school should be the model 
of cleanliness, and no reasonable expense should be spared in 
putting into the hands of the janitor the tools necessary to 
make it so. Every room, hall, and corridor should be cleanly 
swept every day. For this a fiber brush is better than a broom, 
a spring handle is better than a rigid handle in sweeping around 
desks and chairs. Heavy brooms should be provided for 
sweeping steps and walks. Sweeping should be done in the 
evening and every pupil's and teacher's desk should be dusted 
in the morning at least a half hour before the arrival of the 
children. To aid in keeping a proper temperature every room 
should have a thermometer. All minor repairs should be 
made by the janitor. For this purpose he must have a set of 
tools, with a good place' for keeping the same. His storeroom 
should give sufficient space for the safekeeping of all sani- 
tary supplies — towels, toilet paper, soap, floor oil, brushes, 
brooms, dusters, disinfectants, and inks. Steel drums are 
excellent for keeping oils and liquid soap, since they prevent 
seepage. 



The Material Equipment 181 

REFERENCES 

American Seating Company (Chicago). Catalogue. 

Baily, Pearl. Domestic Science Principles and Applications. 

Contains suggestions for equipment for department. 
Bruce, W. C. (editor). The American School Board Journal. 
Nearly every issue contains valuable articles on school architecture 
and equipment. The advertisements are also useful in helping 
school boards find the furniture and equipment they need. 
Bruce, W. C. Grade School Buildings. 

Two hundred fifty-four pages of plans and pictures of school buildings. 
Collected from the files of the American School Board Journal. 
Call and Schafer. A Laboratory Manual of Agriculture. 
The appendix contains instructions for equipment of an agricultural 
department. 
Dresslar, F. B. American School Houses. 

Can be purchased from the Superintendent of Public Documents, 
Washington, D. C. $.75. 
Dresslar, F. B. Rural School Houses and Grounds. 
U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin 19 14, No. 12. 
Dresslar, F. B. School Hygiene. 

A very valuable book on the facilities, furniture, and equipment of a 
modern school plant. 
Ellis, A. C. and Kuehne, H. School Buildings. 

Gordon, Wm. (architect). The Consolidated High School. American 
School Board Journal, March, 1918. 
Attractively illustrated. 
Hamlin, Snyder, and Others. Modern School Houses. 
Law, J. R. (architect). An Interesting Village High School, in School 
Board Journal (Milwaukee), for January, 1918. 
Describes a new high school building in a town of two thousand. 
Lloyd and Biglow. The Teaching of Biology in Secondary Schools. 

Contains chapters on material and equipment. 
Mills, W. T. American School Building Standards. 
Robson, P. A. School Planning. 

Williams, C. F., and Son (Albany, N. Y.). The Educational Red Book. 
Lists firms selling all kinds of supplies. Price 25 cents. 



CHAPTER XIV 
SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPING 

The Principal's Responsibility. — With the installation of 
more and more complicated appliances for heating, ventilat- 
ing, lighting, and cleaning, school housekeeping is coming 
to be more and more of a science. It is a science, moreover, 
of which the school administrator must be master. The 
young principal must never forget that he is superintendent 
of the whole school, and that it is just as much a part of his 
business to understand the work of the janitor and see to it 
that that work is well done as it is to supervise the work of 
his teachers. And this part of his profession involves a 
specialized technique just as does the supervision of class 
management and the instructional process. It will be im- 
possible to devote enough space here to furnishing principals 
with the technical information they will need. Mere outlines 
and suggestions must suffice. The best book to own is 
Dresslar's School Hygiene (Macmillan). This book discusses 
the principles of schoolhouse construction and of school 
housekeeping. 

The principal's first task in school housekeeping is to study 
his plant. In what particulars is his equipment inadequate 
to the instructional needs of his children? What must he 
ask for at once, and what can be added gradually? What 
repairs and alterations in the building itself are needed im- 
mediately, and what can be postponed? What changes are 

182 



School Housekeeping 1S3 

imperative in seats, window shades, or toilet furniture? All 
this will constitute a sort of survey by the new principal him- 
self of his material equipment ; his policy will be determined 
in part by his findings. 

Teachers will usually need some instruction in the various 
phases of hygienic housekeeping. They must know how to 
put the children into suitably sized seats, or to adjust the 
seat to the size of the child ; they must know how to handle 
the window shades ; how to abate the chalk dust nuisance ; 
how to prevent the accumulation of dirt and the stirring up 
of dust ; how to regulate heat ; how to avoid the unsanitary 
use of pencils and other utensils. If teachers do not under- 
stand these things and conduct their rooms accordingly, the 
principal must see that they inform themselves at once. It 
is fortunate for almost any teacher to be compelled to do 
some useful prescribed reading. 

Heating. — The principal must thoroughly understand, and 
know how to operate, his heating, ventilating, and lighting 
systems. If stoves are used, they must be jacketed. "This 
may be done by moving the stove to a corner of the room, sur- 
rounding all sides of it save the door with a sheet iron casing, 
set six or eight inches from the stove, and connecting this 
space with the outside air by means of a carefully constructed 
fresh air duct. The jacket ought to fit closely to the floor, 
and about the door of the stove, and extend a few inches 
above the door of the stove." Obviously the heat will set 
up a circulation of air, thus aiding in ventilation. Provision 
should be made for the escape of foul air, either by opening 
the windows a little at the top, or preferably through an outlet 
connected with the smoke flue. A hot air furnace is really 
a jacketed stove in the basement, and requires relatively 



184 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

little technical knowledge or skill to manage. It needs, 
however, to be inspected every summer in order to make 
sure that it is in good repair before it has to be fired up in 
the fall. If the hot air furnace is properly installed and in 
good repair, it is about as satisfactory a system as there is for 
use in small schoolhouses. It is very easy, however, to waste 
fuel by improper feeding. 

One of the greatest difficulties connected with heat- 
ing is to secure sufficient humidity. Dry air parches the 
membranes of nose and throat, thus contributing to disorders 
of those parts, besides weakening the resistance to disease 
germs. It also causes excessive evaporation from the skin, 
thus increasing the artificial heat required. Artificially dry 
air irritates the nervous system in ways not well understood. 
If sufficient provision for moistening the air is not provided 
in the original construction of the furnace some relief can be 
secured by hanging pails or setting basins of water in the hot 
air registers, though this will be found to disturb the dis- 
tribution of hot air. No attempt should ever be made to 
regulate the heat of a schoolroom without a good thermometer 
to rely upon ; and there are also scientific devices for testing 
humidity. The normal temperature for rooms where children 
are sitting is about 68° to 70 , but rooms in which children 
are moving about, e.g. laboratories, gymnasiums, shops, and 
toilets, may be several degrees cooler. 

If the school is large enough to warrant a system of 
steam or hot water heating, it becomes necessary to employ 
a janitor who can give it the expert attention it requires. 
This will be found to involve intelligent skill both as an en- 
gineer and a steam fitter. It will not require a plant of 
any very great size to demand the services of such a func- 



School Housekeeping 185 

tionary in addition to those of a janitor. But even so the 
principal should understand the heating plant well enough 
himself to determine whether the engineer really knows his 
business or is only pretending to do so. A winter job of 
this sort would look attractive to almost any Jack-of -all- 
trades, but the board should understand that a really 
competent man cannot be employed for the wages of unskilled 
labor. 

Ventilation. — It is more difficult to ventilate schoolrooms 
in warm weather than in cold for the simple reason that there 
is no difference in temperature between inside and outside 
air, and consequently no difference between air at the floor 
and at the ceiling. Circulation is therefore hard to produce. 
Special attention must accordingly be given to the problem of 
ventilation during the warm season. Windows should be 
wide open at both bottom and top. If an artificial system 
of ventilation (independent of the heating plant) is in use, 
warm weather is just the time when its services can least be 
dispensed with. If window ventilation is depended upon, 
the problem is to prevent direct drafts. The window board 
device is useful to this end. A board is sawed to fit under 
the lower sash when it is raised a few inches. This permits 
the air to come in between the two sashes. Double windows 
are very desirable in cold climates, but if the outside sash is 
a stationary storm sash there should be a ventilator at the 
top as well as at the bottom. At least one window in each 
room should be left without a storm sash, so that the room 
can be flushed at recess. This window should be the one 
at the front of the room near which no child sits, as such a 
window is liable to be a cold one to sit by. Flushing the 
room at recess is a good practice. It can sometimes be done 



1 86 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

during school hours if care is taken not to make the room too 
cold. It is well to have the children engage in calisthenic 
exercises while this flushing process is going on. But flush- 
ing must not be depended upon. There must be a constant 
intake of fresh air and outlet of foul air. Teachers should be 
impressed with the fact that they presently become insen- 
sitive to the foul air of their classrooms and cannot therefore 
rely 'upon their own feeling as indicators of atmospheric 
conditions. It must be a fixed principle with them to keep 
the air changing. If the building is equipped with an arti- 
ficial ventilating system, the principal must see to it that 
teachers know how to use it and that they actually do make 
proper use of it. 

Lighting. — If a principal is compelled to use an old build- 
ing with ill-planned lighting, he should by no means allow 
himself to become indifferent to such a situation. It spoils 
too many eyes at best to run our schools. If there is any- 
thing he can do to obstruct light from objectionable direc- 
tions, such as curtaining front windows, changing the frontage 
of seats, or covering the bottoms of low windows, he should 
do it by all means. Unfortunately the textbooks on school 
hygiene are desolately barren of suggestions along this line. 

Keeping the Schoolhouse Clean. — The schoolhouse should 
be " as neat as a well-kept home and as clean as a hospital." 
Many village and country schools sin grievously against this 
rule. The authors have visited schools where halls, closets, 
and furnace rooms were cluttered with all sorts of utensils 
and rubbish, and where the sodless soil was only less abundant 
inside than outside. Those parts of the school yard where it 
is hopeless to make grass grow should be well covered with 
gravel so that there will be no mud to track into the house. 



School Housekeeping 187 

Inside there should be a place for everything and every thing 
in its place. A slovenly, neglected schoolhouse is inexcusable, 
and has a damaging influence on the characters of children. 

Every teacher should be held strictly accountable for the 
cleanliness and care of equipment and property intrusted to 
her. If the janitor fails to do his full duty, this should be 
reported to the principal. Pupils should be taught to take 
pride in keeping their room, desks, and books just a little 
neater than those of the pupils of any other room. No mark- 
ings of any kind should be allowed to remain on walls, furni- 
ture, or books. The person responsible for such markings 
should be made to remove it and repair any damage him- 
self. A money fine for such damage is easily obtained by a 
call on the family purse without any special punitive effect 
on the child. But if he is made to do the actual work of re- 
pair, it will serve as a good lesson. Often by, ordinary wear 
a desk top will become soiled and unsightly. Each boy 
should be encouraged to go to the manual training depart- 
ment, get whatever is needed in way of sandpaper, stains, 
or varnish, and put his desk in good shape. Nothing will 
cause him to take pride in his desk more than this. He will 
usually display a little gallantry and ask to fix up the desk 
of his sister across the aisle. The teacher's desk should be 
a model of neatness at all times. She should also be provided 
with mending tissue and adhesive tape for the repair of books 
when necessary. Pupils, if encouraged therein, will take a 
keen interest in mending any torn pages or broken book backs. 
Anything about the room needing attention should be taken 
care of immediately. Things will not then have the appear- 
ance of being neglected, and pupils will always be eager to 
keep things as they should be kept. 



1 88 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Pupils should at all times, before, during, and after school, 
observe the same decorum one would expect to find in a 
public library. They should not make a playground or 
gymnasium out of the schoolroom. They should march to 
classes in order and without communication. No pupils 
should come into their rooms before school unless they come 
in to read or study. Of course in severe winter weather a 
teacher's judgment will guide her in the enforcement of this. 

It is a fundamental principle in the cleaning of schoolhouses 
that dust is the criminal that carries disease germs and that 
causes disease by sheer mechanical irritation of delicate 
membranes. Care should be taken to prevent dust. Furnish 
facilities for cleaning the shoes, and see that the children use 
them. Keep erasers and chalk troughs carefully cleaned 
daily. If no mechanical appliances are provided for cleaning 
erasers, they should be taken outdoors and thoroughly cleaned 
at least once a week. Blackboards should be sponged, not 
watersoaked, weekly. Avoid unnecessary commotion in the 
schoolrooms. 

For cleaning schoolrooms the old-fashioned broom and 
duster are outlaws. They remove only the visible dirt while 
stirring up the invisible dust to settle at night, ready to swarm 
to its nefarious business as soon as the children arrive. Floors 
should be oiled. First clean the floor thoroughly. When 
dry spread the oil on thin, wiping up what does not soak in. 
Do this three times a year ? but at least three days before the 
floor is to be used. Walls should also be cleaned on these 
periodic occasions. 

The following table from Lambert 1 shows the effect of 
oiling upon the spread of disease germs : 

1 See Hoag and Terman, " Health Work in the Schools." 



School Housekeeping 



189 



Plates Exposed 



Colonies of Bacteria 



5 minutes in still air 

30 minutes in still air 

5 minutes during sweeping • 

5 minutes just after sweeping 

5 minutes beginning 10 minutes after sweeping 
5 minutes beginning 15 minutes after sweeping 




Sweeping should be done with a sweeping compound or 
dampened sawdust to prevent dust from rising. Fiber or 
hair brush brooms are much to be preferred. Dusting should 
be done with damp cloths. The woodwork should be wiped 
or washed free of dust at stated and not infrequent intervals, 
and upon occasion the rooms should be disinfected by methods 
advised by the physician. In new schoolhouses a vacuum 
cleaning system should be installed. 

Toilets. — Toilets require special attention. Some schools 
become habituated to indecent toilet conditions. If outside 
privies are used — they ought to be abolished — care must 
be taken to prevent demoralizing indecencies, and pains 
must be taken to keep them scrupulously clean. This will 
require the attention of the janitor at least daily, and the 
application of quicklime or dry dust or ashes. It is very 
essential to have well-cared-for toilet facilities. Toilets 
should be cleaned daily. Janitors have considerable time 
during school hours for this kind of work. Toilets, besides 
being kept clean, must be kept in good repair and plentifully 
supplied with paper. If facilities for washing are provided, 
— and of course they should be, — the roller towel must not 
be tolerated, but paper towels should be furnished. It is 



190 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

advisable to permit only one pupil to leave the room at a time. 
It is well to have him place his name on the blackboard space 
provided for this, with the time of leaving and time of return- 
ing. At the close of the day the teacher has on this board 
a record of those who have left the room, and can readily 
ascertain whether any have been abusing this privilege. 

Movements of Children. — The success of school house- 
keeping depends in part upon the movements of children in 
the building. 

For fire drills it is well to have a gong in the hall. There 
should be a special signal for fire drill, and when it is given 
the teacher should immediately form pupils in line, single or 
double file, depending on the width of hall and the outer door. 
The teacher should stand at the head of her own line and in her 
own door until the gong strikes a second time, this being the 
signal to march. If the width of the halls permits, the files 
from two or more rooms may march out abreast. If there 
is more than one entrance, all should be used. The teacher 
should go at the head of her line and insist on pupils keeping 
in line. For the first and perhaps second drill it is well for 
the principal to inform his teachers ; then it may be called 
without previous warning. The principal may tell pupils 
and teachers not to be frightened as he intends to light a 
small fire in the basement before the next drill. After one 
or two trials with this warning the drill can be called without 
previous warning, but with the smoke. Thus can pupils be 
taught to conduct themselves in a prearranged fire drill just 
as they should in case of an actual fire. 

The Janitor. — The janitor is a very important employee 
of the school. If he is a man of the right kind of character, 
he can be very useful in the discipline of the school. It goes 



School Housekeeping 191 

without saying that he must be faithful in the discharge of 
his duties. He must be intelligent enough to understand not 
only what needs to be done but the why as well. For in- 
stance, he should understand why schoolhouses should be 
cleaned in such a way as to suppress dust. He should be 
able to make minor repairs in the equipment of the school 
plant, and, as has been said, if he is given charge of compli- 
cated mechanical fixtures, he should understand their use 
thoroughly. The janitor should be strictly under the control 
of the superintendent, who should prescribe for him a schedule 
of duties and inspect his work from time to time. 

REFERENCES 

Ayres, Williams, and Wood. Healthful Schools. 

A good new book on the subject. 
Richardson, Robert E. The Selection and Supervision of Janitors, in 
School Board Journal, May, 1918. 
Shows how this service is beginning to be professionalized in progressive 
cities. 



192 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 



Dear Parent : 

I have detained. 






this 




Pupil was dismissed at 


. P.M. 






Date 




Teacher. 





Fig. 6. — Form for Reporting Detention after School. Teachers who appre- 
ciate the careful parent's point of view will see the need for this blank. Many a child 
has begun a wrong course by getting into mischief when his parents supposed he was 
staying after school. These blanks should not be kept where pupils can get them. 



Registration Card Minneapolis Public Schools 

To be filled out by parent or guardian and returned to Principal without delay. 



Date 191 School 

Pupil's full name 

Pupil's Minneapolis Address 

Birthplace : City or Town State or County 

Date of Birth : Day Month Year Age last birthday Years 

Sex (boy or girl) Race (white, negro, Mongolian, Indian) 

Father's name Nationality 

Residence Occupation 

Mother's name , Nationality 

Residence Occupation 

Guardian's name Nationality 

Residence Occupation 



This is to Certify that the Above Information is Correct. 
Date, 191 



Signature of Father (if living), or Guardian. 
Date, 191 



Signature of Mother (if living), or Guardian. 



Fig. 7. — Registration Card. The back of this card is ruled to show the pu- 
pil's brothers and sisters, with the age of each, the school each is attending, and if 
not attending, why. 



CHAPTER XV 
RECORDS, ACCOUNTS, AND REPORTS 

The Uses of Records. — The first and fundamental problem 
confronting any student of education who tries to devise 
a set of school records is the problem of aim. What are the 
purposes for which school records are kept ? Until that ques- 
tion is decided, tentatively at least, one hardly knows where 
to begin ; and after he has begun he will be equally at a loss 
to know where to stop. Blanks and records can be devised 
endlessly, but there is undoubtedly a point of diminishing 
returns, beyond which their multiplication is not profitable 
at the present stage of our educational development, and 
beyond which the desired results may be more economically 
and certainly achieved by more direct means. The right 
location of that point will depend upon a proper concept of 
the purpose of school records. 

The immediate purpose of school records is to keep per- 
manent account of data that teachers, school officers, pupils, 
or patrons may need to know later. For example, the im- 
mediate purpose of financial records is to keep tab on the 
expenditure of school funds in case occasion should arise, as 
is certain to happen, when persons interested may wish for 
any reason to know what has become of the funds. Like- 
wise numerous familiar occasions arise when it is desirable or 
even necessary to refer to a pupil's scholarship record, 
o 193 



194 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

The immediate purpose of records is the traditional one, 
and beyond this purpose too few persons, even educators, 
ever think. But there is another purpose, which might be 
called the ultimate purpose, and that is to render data avail- 
able for educational science. An example would be the 
attempt to standardize unit costs. For this ultimate purpose, 
now coming to be a very important one, it is obvious that 
the records must be comparable and commensurate in very 
large numbers of schools. Indeed, so necessary are uniform 
records for all schools that the United States Bureau of Edu- 
cation has issued a report on the subject which will be repeat- 
edly referred to in this chapter and the next. 

A third purpose of records might be designated the inter- 
mediate, to signify their use by county, state, and federal 
government in tabulating statistical data for the guidance 
of governmental administration. The distinction between 
these three purposes is, of course, artificial ; and no doubt 
they blend into one another, especially as the science of edu- 
cation is more and more applied to local administration. 
But the point is that school record keqping implies a great 
cloud of witnesses ; and with this fact in mind it will seem 
far more significant and far less irksome to teachers and super- 
intendent alike. 

Standardization of School Records. — Considerable atten- 
tion has been devoted in recent years to the standardization 
of school records. The most important thing in print on 
the subject is the Report of the Committee of the National 
Education Association on Uniform Records and Reports 
which was referred to above. This report has been reprinted 
by the University of Chicago Press, and by the Bureau of 
Education as Bulletin No. 3, 191 2. It was an attempt, as 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 195 

the name suggests, to outline a plan that could be followed 
by schools all over the country in order that they might 
furnish comparable figures as a basis for reliable sta- 
tistics. 

Professors Strayer and Engelhardt, of Teachers College, 
Columbia University, have worked out the most complete 
and scientific set of school records in existence. It is to be 
hoped that the results of their work will presently be avail- 
able to the profession in printed form. Meantime the authors 
are under obligation to them for permission to present some 
of their most important forms. 

Classification of Instructional Records. — School records 
are usually classified under two heads: instructional and 
financial, though as health work develops in the schools a 
third category tends to emerge. The following outline will 
serve as a standard inventory of the instructional records 
that should be kept in a small system, and will indicate the 
relation of these records to one another. A study of the forms 
themselves will reveal their specific uses. 

Instructional Records 
I. Attendance. 

1. Census. 

a. Enumerator's Sheet (Fig. 10). 

b. Superintendent's Card (Figs. 8, 9). 

2. Registration Card (Figs. 7, 11, 12, 13). 

3. Teacher's Register (Figs. 14, 15). 

4. Pupil's Permanent Record Card (Fig. 16). 

5. Transfer Cards (Figs. 11, 12, 17). 

II. Progress. 

1. Teacher's Class Record Cards. 

2. Teacher's Scholarship Record (Figs. 13, 14, 45). 



196 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

3. Report Cards to Parents. 

4. Pupil's Permanent Record Card (Fig. 16). 

5. Transfer Certificates (Figs, n, 12, 17). 

III. Health. 

1. Clinic Records (Fig. 18). 

2. Notification Cards. 

3. Permanent Health Record (Figs. 18, 19). 

IV. Miscellaneous. 

1. Teacher Data. 

a. Applications. 

b. Recommendation. 

c. Contract. 

d. Professional Record. 

e. Score Card (Figs. 20, 21). 

2. Catalogue Files. 

3. Letter Files. 

4. Files for Other Miscellaneous Items. 

Attendance Records. — The attendance record should furnish 
all needed data for checking up attendance with the school 
census ; for showing all concerned what each pupil's attendance 
has been throughout his entire school career, with reasons for 
irregularity ; and for correlating the records of all schools in 
order to facilitate statistical treatment with a view to admin- 
istrative and scientific purposes. Progress records should re- 
veal at any time and to any person responsible for the pupil his 
progress, as scientifically determined as possible. They should 
also furnish data for the graphic tabulation of progress ten- 
dencies of classes, schools, and systems, and of all the chil- 
dren of state and nation. The health records serve similar 
purposes, and the miscellaneous records called for in the list 
are self-explanatory. 











•^ 










1 




3 -M 




^ 


o 








u 












o 

X 


s 

e 

4J 
C 


g a 31 Hill 

"ISllMlJHi 


» 5 s -i* 
3 5 5 "Ill's 


< £ E «• 


i 










01 

a 

9 
o 






* 


*IH* 


< 


~ 











































* 


*» 
































5 





>. 




< 


































• 


o 


Q 




Q 
I 


































o- 


1 




































a 

e 


6 
2 






































« 


£ 
































u 




■si 


>« 






































1 


hxuis 


■ -=3 
































<a | o 


1 % 
































ueipjCno 


CO 

a 


JO 

till 

.3 < < o 
Z <- s 




































3«a 

» = " s 
































o 






j| 5 is 


































U 




















































































































1—4 






5 


a 









































u 




































o 






£ 


^ 


































•8 






* 


£ 


































5 






































a 


































♦J 








































a 






• 


































Q 


£ 


mmm 




H 

c 


































a 


c 






•5 


































ce * 


3 





B 


B 




































U 

41 
> 


s 


s 


< 
1 
































s 


i 




-J 


U 
V] 
































n 

o 
o 


E 




































J3 

o 
n 






































































bo 


fl 




































3 


a 




































a 


X 




































S> 


u 


4) 


































s 


fc 


I 


41 
































o 


> 


z 


e 
































3 





a 


































! 




£ 


£ 
































E 
9 


o 




































a 


41 




































. 


2 




































S 
> 


2 

! 




































a 


41 

S 

n 


- 


I 
































3 


" 


z 


V> 


































^ 










































































n 

u 
tl 

c 

£ 9 


a 


M 


* 
































1 
g 

r 


i 

£ 




en en 




























PIWO 


— 


















-»««« 




























































— i 



o 
o 

u 

</) 

bo 
a 

a 
o 



S 

e 



•s 

o 
o 






;ucs 



« ! 



«« o 



Enumerating Sheet for Recording School Census Data m.MH 

Code Numbers to be used in column indicated by * Enumerator For year 








s 

a 






1 


J3T3 „ 

q 2 « — — o^a-,0 






1 

| 

i 

2 


■I* 






i 
i 


1 
I. 






How Employed 

1. Id stores, (cash boys, errand boys, 6. Street trades, (newsboys, pedlers, 

etc.) bootblacks, etc.) 

2. In office, (clerk, office boy. etc.) 7. Skilled trades, (painters, paper- 

3. Messenger, (outdoors- telegraph, hangers, plasterers, plumbors, 

delivery service, etc.) metal workers, cto.) 

4. Mining, both inside and outsido 8. Service, (servants, waiters, house- 

work, maids, etc.) 

5. Factory workOaundries. foundries, 9. House-work at home. 

mills, etc.) 10. Miscellaneous and unknown. 




II* 






|«|. 






1 






! 

|!l 

»lf 

S-sf 

S I5 
I ^ = 

S. £ 

■E 
S 


1 






Kind of 
School 

1. Public 

2. Parochial: 




| 












i 

It 

E ! 




1 

1 

a 


j 






1* 






* SSa 










Birthplace of Child or Fat! 

1. United States 5. Italy 9. Poland 

2. Ireland 6. England 10. Scotland 

3. German/ 7. Canada 11. Franco 

4. Russia 8. Hungary 12. Ronmania 


1 






65 1 






f 

a 
a 


£ 






1 






1 






6 






Hit 11 

|5 Is sal 
Jl f tiffs 




<u ooe.ma, 


3 

ui r." 


i. 




~ 



-M .2 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 



199 



101 

1. Last Dame 




i. First Name and Initial 


ADMISSION. DISCHARGE 
AND PROMOTION CARD 




To be kept (or every pupil and sent with the 
pupil when he is transferred to any school, either 
public or private, in the city or outside the city. 
Great care should be used to have the names 
COMPLETE and CORRECT. 

Write all dates as follows: 1918-3-18 


3. Place of birth 


4. 

s 


Yr 


Mo 


Da 


5. Vacin'd 










6. Name of parent or guardian 


7. Occup'n of parent or guardian 


8. RESIDENCE 


9. DATE OF 
DtSCHAKGP. 


8. RESIDENCE 


9. DATE OP 
DISCHARGE 



















































































When a pupil is permanently discharged to work, to remain at home, or because ol death, permanent illness, or commitment 
40 an institution, a fu)l statement of the cause of the pupil's discbarge is to be made in the blauk space remainjne above. 



Fig. 11. — The A.D.P. Card. 



ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROMOTION RECORD 

This card Is to pass from teacher to teacher or from school to school as the pupil 
Is promoted or transferred. To be filled out and sent to principal's office when 
change is made requiring change in office records. It is then to be sent to the 
teacher who has the pupil. 


A 

SCHOOL 


B 
OATE 0> 
ADMISSION 


C 

A6ESEPT t 

VRS. MOS 




GRADE 


e 

ROOM 


F 

DATS 

PRESEWT 


e 

HEALTH 


H 

CONDUCT 


SCHOLAR- 
SHIP 




































































































































































































































































































































































































































OVER ! 



Fig. 12. — Promotion Record (Back of Fig. 11). 



2oo Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 





SEMESTER CARD 

Record of Term 19 and 19 




(Lot name first) (/or//) 

Year Course. Age Yrs. Mos. Record Page 




From what School Member Lit. Society f 




(doc Name) 

OutMfJe Work Expect to Graduate 




Attend College Vocational Interest 




( Ciix name of college and couist selected) 


Hour 


Subject 


Study 


Isl 


■u 

Month 


3d 

Month 


4th 
Month 


D R 


Ei. 


s. ». 


Times 
»bsent 


lacdr 


•ppli- 


POO. 


TeacU, 


I 


•Record <Room 




























11 






























III 






























IV 






























V 






























VI 






























VII 






























(oviiio 



REGISTER 


Name < Last Dame first) 


Date 


Date ot Birth 


Address 


Ses 


Telephone 


Parent's Name 


Birth Place 


Parent's Business Address 


'BeBldent or Non Resident 


Parent's Occupation 


Condition of Health 


Class entered In Central High School 


Attendance 




Weefcs 


M 


T 


w 


T 


P 


M 


T 


W 


T 


F 


M 


T 


w 


T 


P 


Entering oo Certificate from 


1. 1. 3. 
































4. 5 6. 
































Remarks 


7. 8. 9. 
































10. 11. 12. 
































' (otir) 


13. 14. 15. 
































16. 17. 18. 



































Fig. 13. — High School Enrollment Card (J. H. Teuton). 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 201 

Progress Records. — The notations which the teacher 
makes in her class book are the basis for the progress records. 
How the teacher keeps that record is perhaps immaterial. 
Some teachers prefer the conventional class book that can 
be had for a few cents at any school supply house ; some prefer 
a little packet of plain cards, one for each pupil. There is 
no doubt, however, that Bagley is right in asserting 1 that 
such records should be conscientiously, though not labori- 
ously, kept in some form. For reporting progress to parents, 
two cards are necessary, one for the grades, and a different 
one for the high school. The elementary card should be ruled 
both ways, horizontally for the months, which are listed down 
the left end of the card ; vertically for the elementary subjects, 
and also for tardiness, absence, conduct, and grade, all of 
which are listed along the top of the card. The margins of 
the card contain necessary explanations. The high school 
card should have blanks for attendance, deportment, and 
application. The subjects should be written in the spaces 
provided for the purpose, to the right of which should be as 
many columns as there will be reports made during the year. 
On the back of the card should be explanations, and spaces 
for parents' signatures — enough to last a year. Some 
principals furnish blanks on which parents may write excuses 
for absence. These should be managed to avoid forgery. 
High school principals also have use for printed forms to certify 
that a given subject (to be filled in in the blank space provided) 
has been completed ; and also for a printed or mimeographed 
sheet on which to list the credits that a pupil is taking to 
another school. 

1 Classroom Management, p. 178. 



202 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 



CD 

. J 

t-t 
U 

a 

*o 
o 

■g 

CO 

u 


o 

g. 
2 

GO 

IH 

03 

"3 

js 
o 

CO 

a 

a 
« 

d 
S 

< 

a 
o 

a 

3 

o 


01 

CI 

a 
S 

'in 

t2 


< 




c 
c 
'S 


£ 




|| 










































hhl 




1 
5 




ti 










































s| 






































2 


Eh 




y 




CO 








































IHH 




Fourth 2 
Teachei 

Date of; 
Date of 


o 

CO 








































sis 




0) 
CM 








































CO 
CM 






































c 

a 
w 


c 

0) 

a 

D 
j 
u 



£ 

a 
CO 

■a 

a 

.o 
d 

1 

Q 

1 

a 
£ 

a 

M 

Q 
1 

1* 

1) 

W 

8 

a> 
CO 




c 
c 

J= 



V 




c 




CM 








































CD 
CM 








































|s|s| 




CM 








































sis 

. n . 




1" 
CM 








































CO 
CM 








































'5 o 


CM 
CM 








































CM 








































N'l 




S3 ? : 


O 
CM 








































.3 
'5 

-a 

B 

B 

z 




Third 
Teach 

Dateo 
Date o 


sis' 

&S 

eg 

« S 

6" ft 
•a -a 

a> 
CO, 
Q.Q, 

22 
QQ 

1 1 
6«"fc 

QQ 
•a 

E 

•a Bi 
»> a 

»2 

TA 

CO 

J 
O 
M 
S 
> 




a> 








































CD 












































c 
o 

1 

e 


a 
a 

o 

01 


N 








































CD 








































W 








































rr 






































' 


CO 






































O 


JS 


CM 








































~ 








































a <a o 
o g « 

y 8 * 


o 








































0) 








































cSSo Q 


CO 








































4) 

e 

a 
S3 

3 

« 

'3. 

s 
a. 






c 
o 

8 

i 


s 


N 








































CD 








































«0 








































Tf 








































CO 








































CM 








































8 


- 








































•8 & 2 

«1* o 

« y « 


i 




z 


a 






S 


z 

a 


E 

< 


Z 
a! 


Z 

< 


Z 
a! 


E 
< 


S 

0.' 


E 

«' 


1 
a 


E 

< 


Z 
i 


s s 


E Z 




c 


c 


Q 
) 


Q 


CO 


TS 


3^ 


as 


eo 


£ 


«5 


<■ 


WS 


cs 








Records, Accounts, and Reports 



203 







































DIRECTIONS: 1. This sheet should contain the attendance and scholarship record of a pupil for an entire year, and is to be sent from building to'building or room to roam when 
the pupil transfers. It should be sent from one building to another after it is known that the pupil has entered the other school. 

2. In case of temporary absence the pupil should be marked absent for six consecutive half-days (or as law prescribes), and Dr. T. in case he does not return on the seventh half- 
day. Of course if the pupil Is absent and it is known he will not return to the school system during the year, he should be marked Dr. P, immediately. In case of Dr. P. enter reason * 
for dropping. 6Traye.r-engclhardi school record caro eiftici— c. r. william a son, inc., Albany, n. y. 


Sdijiooo 



O 


































SuiMag 


CD 
C/j 






































































Suiuibjx irnaBp^ 


e 


































auajSXn 


> 


































aouaiDg 


Cfl 


































sjnjino iBDisXqj 





































Disnj^ 


§ 


































SaiMBJQ 


Q 


































SuijUAi 


> 






































































DijamqjtJV 


< 






































































soiaiq 


O 




















. 














Ajojsjh 


a 


































XqdBi2o3£) 





































Suiliads 


ui 


































sSbhSubt 


J 


































SaipBa^ 


tf 






































































aouBJBaddv 
irjuosaaj 


< 
(X 


































-^ojga 




































jonptioo 


6 






































































Scale of Ranking 

OA= % to % 
or Excellent 
B= % to % 
or Good 
C= % to % 
Fair or Passable 
D= % to % 
or Unsatisfactory 
F=Less than % 
or Very Poor 




V3 


C3 


a^ 




CO 


00 

ee 

OS 


CO 

X 

MJ 


■2 




TO 

3E 


«^" 


03 

3E 


as 


c 


CO 

',2 





204 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 



«> Elementary School Record •"BSSr* 1 jrj£S2SZ£T2» m o2Sl XttEXSSZErXSZ 

To be filed permanently in the office ol the Superintendent or Schools _ 




b 


ih'kx 


d 


jl 


t 

Day! 


Z 


h 


Scholar. 




















3. Place o( birth 












vaccinae 




















1 




























*. Name ol parent or guardian 


7. Occupation ol parent or guardian 
























































■". PUce of residence before eotenn* this sc oo 


























































&£& 


». Date ol discharge 1 


Years 1 Months 


rhecusso. 






































— 


























































r „ m ,„ ,„« 


















1 " 


Coramllmen 


.„ 






















































In the space belowmay be recorded: Ureases of truancy: (2) cases of corporal 
punishment; <3) reasons for non-promotion: (4) other matters ■worthy ol record, 
such as serious illoess or pronounced characteristics likely to aflect success- 


K.1>~ 




T 
















("Sssa'i 








J^^BtS^SFrE^w'^H^ 










^ENT. S 




„„^-».^, „„. «... « „-, . . ».. ^. „„,. .. .. . ^ 



&^!2w C t£^2£&"l$£?%H*. High School Student's Record 


1. Last name t First name and Initial 


SabtKls- 


CUs, 


Eua 


»* 




^,r,7 .» 


Cta. 


E... 


„,,, 


Credos I 


































S. Res,denceolparentorE 1 sardi«nI(A,»<«,/> 


4. Residence ol student i,Uw ftwH 










































































. elephoneno. 1 *pn.ol 


.Co.™ 


I. Class 
























- 
















































,. Yea, 


Grade 


A C c Scol 1 


prescn 


absenl 


Tart? 


K : ''-Z 


V,:x:' 


Toiil tred.U 


S ta?B -19 


CUss 


Eu, 


Dale 


'"*» : 


Sok«Ct!- 


Das, 


E-t. 


D.U 


Crrf.Ul 










n 19 






















































19 11 














































19 19 














































19 -19 














































19 19 
































































































IB. Graduation HonorI 


"«-"- rras " ,u ^ 
























1 


"ilrV .19 


CUsi 


i.i. 


Dat, 


T~ 




s ". k ;r,'",9- .„ 


[U= 


Eu. 


Date 


\"*^ 


12. Reasonjor withdrawal belorcgradual.on. Check In Mum below. 


























To work^ 


,Em„^.V..'dW.,.-..„ 


























□ Dealt 




' IR..~.) 
























































































D Transfer u> . 




--" 


, ... 


























a Other reason 






























•D-Debale: S-School paper: A-Alh. as>oc . B-Bask*tball: P-FoolbaD: Ba-Basc- 
baU. 5-1 B or G) Scouts: i ross; Br-Boy's raaarVR C— Girls 
clnb; E-F.mployed. tWrila dates. 1919-9-2i. 


Record subjects as follows: "En*. 1 B" or "Atnex. Hist. 4 A., dales u 6/7*. 

Class-FLnaJ c)*s» sundlor E*am.-.»LoaJ eiam. mark. 
JL'- Local credits, counts ox points: S-Steie credits. 



Fig. i6. — Pupil's Permanent Record Card — Both Sides. 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 



205 



ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY 


191.^.,.... 


Days 
Present 


Days 
Absent 


Times 
Tar,dy 




191 


Days 

Present 


Days 
Absent 


Times 
Tardy 


September 








February 








October 

November 

December 






— 


March 

April 

May 














January , 




June 











3A 

To be Jilted Out (or the pupil in case */ transfer 

to any other school, either In or outside if city. TRANSFER CARD 


1. Last name 


2. First name and initial 


6. Name of parent or guardian 


7. Occupation of parent or guardian 


4. 

Birth 


Yr. 


Mo. 


Da. 


8'. Residence before discharge 


8. New residence (or name of pri- 
vate or parochial school i£ pupil is 
transferred to one) 


10. Age when discharged 
Years 1 Month. 


d. Grade 


e. Room 


f DaysPresent 


g. Health 


h. Conduct 


i. Scholarship 


12. Date of last 
attendance 


School 


j. Days absent 


k. Times 
Tardy 


9. Date of Discharge 


Teacher 


Principal 


, t .., e _h.„„ _ «co« c«o »„■». c ,» .0-. ,,c. ^r. .. ,. 



Fig. 17. — Transfer Card — Both Sides. 



206 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Health and Miscellaneous Records. — In addition to the 
clinic record shown herewith a dental clinic card is desirable. 
The Strayer and Engelhard t card can be secured from C. 
F. Williams and Son, Albany, N. Y., as can also their forms for 
teachers' applications, recommendations, and professional 
record. Contracts can usually be obtained from the state 
department. The principal can easily devise forms for 
making health reports to parents. The Bureau of Education 
furnishes a classroom weight record which is very stimu- 
lating. 

Professionalizing the Business Side. It is quite customary 
nowadays in writing on the administrative phases of educa- 
tion to liken the school to a business enterprise. While it 
is invidious to compare the ultimate spiritual results of teach- 
ing with the material products of manufacturing, neverthe- 
less there is a certain similarity between the two enterprises. 
Both involve the expenditure of money ; both aim at results 
which, even in the case of the school, can be measured with 
more or less accuracy. There is a certain sense, then, in which 
the administration of a school is a business enterprise and 
the principal a business man. 

It is well therefore for the principal to think of himself 
not only as a teacher but also as an entrepreneur, for he is 
managing a public business involving a greater outlay than 
all the other public enterprises of the village combined. With- 
out sacrificing the educator's point of view he should try to 
acquire the business manager's point of view also. This 
he can do by associating and conversing with men of commer- 
cial affairs, reading their magazines, and making an incidental 
study of accounting and business efficiency. President 
Thomas of Middlebury College says that the school super- 





[£_ 


>\a 










2 u~ 






•a 












; 




u 












. 










£ 




Code 
*Date of Bin 

1. Birth Cert 

cate 

2. Baptismal 

Certificat 

3. Passport 

4. Bible Reco 

5. Parent's 

stateraen 

6. Child's 

statemen 

tCODE 

i/-normal; 

X-minor defec 

xx-notify 

parent; 

jc.xx-immedia 

attention 

desirable; 

not 

examined; 

c-cured or 

corrected; 

+ -iraprovec 

©-incurable 

Dates— 

1918-9-23. 

e-excluded 

r-re-adraitte 




£ 






























6 








































































*m>ua 




ca 1 






1 




cj 




























































































































£ 
































































2 




3 




















































































































"c 
































































































































■g 
































































































































































































O 

























































































































































































</) 
































































































































c 
























































































































































































































































ft. 


























































































































































































o 




























































































































in 


























































c 
































































OS 
































































c 

u 
























































































































w 
































































os 
































































J 


& 


























































































































< 


E 


































































u 




































































CO 


o 


























































































































> 


11 


































































X 


■- 


































































c 


z 
































































































































































































o 
































































































































& 


























































































































E 




,v 




























































































































Z 
































































































































































































































































u. 
































































1 

Z 


~u 




S 

a 
o 

0) 




£ 

M 


M 


c 
c 

C 
o 


HJ 


be 


aj 


a> 

SZ 

be 


OS 

"5 

a 

0) 

T3 


-t— 
'55 


j= 


a 




2 


c 


c 


CJ 


M 

c 


<0 


o 
x: 


c 

o 


c 
o 

3 


ca 

CD 

ft 

E 

0) 


CO 
CJ 
0) 


<v 
u 

D 


.O 
T3 

CD 

a 

a 












PVMO' 


< 


u 


O 


3 




> 


J 


os 


J 


as 


< 


e 


6- 


00 


C/J 


Qu 


V} 


CJ 


1U 


J 


[b 


U 


U 


^ 


H 


<J 


03 


w 


1 



106 

Personal history (dates, when possible) 

C. Pox Deformities Diphtheria Grippe 

Headache Malaria Measles Meningitis 

Mumps Pediculosis Pneumonia 










Family history 

Alcoholism Tuberculosis Insanity 

Epilepsy Home conditions 


Record of advice to parents and results 


Date 


How notified'* 


Defect Reported 


Advice t 


Action I 


Result 


Card 


Call 






































































































































































































*Check one; Code: t D-dental treatment; M-medical; O-operation; P-private 
physician; G-glasses; I-institution; ^I-advice followed; D-no action; 
ap-action promised. 


Remarks 


Date 


Subject 


Diagnosis, treatment or other memoranda 















































Fig. 19. — Back of Fig. 18. 



H 
m 

> 
W 

O gg 
o m * 

2 >» 



H 

O 

Q 
W 

fa 
O 

H 
O 
W 

o 







DEFINITIVE TERMS 



I. 1. Personal attractiveness, cleanliness, neatness, dress. 

2. Posture, dignity, grace, self-command, composure. 

3. Physical vigor, wholesomeness, buoyancy, hygienity. 

4. Rational behavior, freedom from impulsiveness and irascibility. 

5. Moral character, spirit of reverence, tendency toward social service. 

6. Temperament, attitude toward pupils, co-operative tendencies, open- 

mindedness. 

7. Driving power, incisiveness, inventiveness. 

II. 1. Command of subject-matter, stock of general information, breadth, 
., acquaintance with current happenings. . 

2. Specialized scholarship, adaptedness to position. 

3. Special studies in education and training in teaching, experience 

under competent supervision. 

4. Clearness, fluency, accuracy. 

5. Scholarship standards, conception of educational aims, and values. 

III. 1. Adaptation, sequence, correlation, rational procedure. 

2. Speed, manner, form of questions, treatment of answers. 

3. Illustration, analysis or synthesis, use of devices. 

4. Motivation, attention, cooperation, suggestion. 

5. Effectiveness, finish, definiteness and sufficiency of modification 

in pupils. 

6. Absence of non-essentials, completeness of utilization of time. 

7. Time, adequacy, definiteness, clearness, motivation. 

IV. 1. Command and evaluation of knowledge materials, sensing meaning, 
reflective thinking, success in reaching independent conclusions. 

2. Habits of response, use of language, quality of written work, 

respect for proprieties in discussion. 

3. Application of knowledge to life situations. 

4. Refined permanent interests, ideals. 

5. Responsiveness to social demands, social habits. 

6. Alertness, concentration, self-activity, relevant questions, criticism. 

7. Study, reading, speaking, writing, handicrafts, fine arts. 

V. 1. Seating of pupils, convenience of furniture and equipment. 

2. Interior furnishings, decorations. 

3. Cleanliness, light, temperature, ventilation. 

VI. 1. Low standards of life in the community, bad home conditions. 

2. Poor supervision, annoying colleagues, insufficient salary, poor 

equipment. 

3. Unfit schoolroom, bad weather conditions, distractions. 

4. Indisposition, exhaustion, personal injury. 

5. Subnormality, poor previous teaching, under-nourishment, insuffi- 

ciency or unfitness of clothing. 



Fig. 2i. — Back of Fig. 20. 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 211 

intendent should be the best informed man in the community 
on the business side of all public enterprises. Instead of 
being, as he is popularly supposed to be, a kind of idealistic 
dreamer, in favor of the expenditure of public money for any- 
thing that sounds like reform or progress, without regard to 
what the city can afford, he should be in all matters of public 
business one of the wisest and most hard headed men in the 
community. This, President Thomas thinks, is the road to 
trustworthy and trusted leadership in public education. If 
school administration is ever to be put on a basis that will 
be scientific from the professional standpoint and at the same 
time will command the respect of business men, much more 
attention must be devoted to school accounting. As soon as 
village principals who are interested in education as a science 
become numerous enough comparisons will become common, 
standards will be set, and village school administration will 
rapidly advance to a professional basis. As a matter of fact 
a good many such studies of village schools are already being 
made, as will appear from the list of references at the close of 
this chapter. 

Financial Records Reveal the Principal's Policy. — From 
instructional statistics the principal learns accurately, so 
far as is measurable, what the products of his business are. 
The financial accounts show what the expenditures have been. 
In small schools it is customary for these accounts to be kept 
by the treasurer and the clerk in blank books purchased for 
the purpose or furnished by the state department. As a 
rule the principal seldom or never sees these records ; in fact 
in most cases it does not occur to him that they are any of 
his concern. But they are. If school accounting had as 
its only purpose that of keeping tab on the officials in order 



212 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

to see that they handled the school funds honestly, such 
accounts might not be of much interest to the principal. 
But they have two other uses. They show, for instance, the 
educational policy of the school. They also reveal the effi- 
ciency with which the work is being done. 

This may be illustrated by the oft quoted sentences of 
Superintendent Spaulding, then of Newton, Mass., in his 
paper before the Department of Superintendence in 1913 : 
" Of every dollar so expended (i.e. for secondary instruction), 
0.3 of one cent goes for Greek, while 15.6 cents go for Eng- 
lish. We buy 0.4 of a cent's worth of instruction in vocal 
music while buying 12.1 cents' worth of instruction in mathe- 
matics. We think it best — or are we doing it without 
thinking ? — to buy 7 cents' worth of French for every 3 cents' 
worth of German ; and we are buying no Spanish at all. We 
are spending 5.1 cents for instruction in household arts — 
in the preparation of girls for homemaking — to 6.1 cents 
for instruction in commercial branches — in preparation of 
girls and boys for clerical and business service." One reads 
between the lines that Superintendent Spaulding was not 
entirely satisfied with this policy, but preferred instead a 
policy that would spend relatively more for Spanish and 
household arts. It suggests, too, a rather effective way in 
which the principal might argue his policy before the 
board. 

The scientific uses of financial records can be illustrated 
as follows : cities vary greatly as to expenditure per pupil- 
year. There is a presumption that a town spending $98.51 
per pupil in average daily attendance for one year is furnishing 
better facilities and getting better results than one expending 
$31.66. Gradually as records are more carefully kept and 



Records , Accounts, and Reports 213 

more diligently studied the cost per pupil-year will tend to 
become standardized. Then schools whose expenditures are 
similar will be able, by comparing instructional statistics 
also, to judge their relative efficiency. In somewhat the 
same way, if the accounting furnished the data, the different 
rooms in the same village school could be compared and also 
the various departments of the high school. And these 
things are but samples of many ways in which school account- 
ing sufficiently detailed so that unit costs of various kinds 
can be computed will help to measure efficiency. 

The Principal as Clerk of the Board. — It is because school 
accounting can be made to serve these two purposes that 
the principal should have a hand in it ; and by the way, he 
can put these purposes forward as an argument for getting 
it into his hands. For, as a matter of fact, the principal 
should himself be clerk of the board. The small stipend 
universally paid to the clerk is practically wasted and should 
be saved or diverted to the school. The principal can afford, 
if necessary, to do the work of the clerk without pay in order 
to effect the change. He will not find it an onerous addition 
to his duties, and to have the clerk's accounts in his own office 
will add to his professional efficiency and the effectiveness of 
his work. The right thing to do, however, is to make the 
clerk's stipend pay for clerical and stenographical assist- 
ance in the principal's office. It will not, of course, employ 
an assistant on full time, but some part time arrangement 
could usually be worked out by combining these clerical 
duties with the other duties of some member of the staff. 
School boards, moreover, should face the fact that the prin- 
cipal needs relief from some of the detailed routine work of 
his office if he is to serve the community as a teacher and 



214 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

educational leader. The clerk's salary should be made to 
help solve this problem. This arrangement is already in 
use in many progressive schools. 

Blanks from the State Department. — The devising and 
furnishing of forms and of blanks for school accounting is a 
matter that should be worked out by state departments and 
has already been undertaken by some of them. The easiest 
way to follow the advice given in this chapter ought to be 
merely to use the blanks furnished by the state super- 
intendents. The financial record books furnished in blank by 
state departments have as a rule been quite inadequate to 
the requirements of scientific accounting, 1 First, they do 
not show when the schooling paid for is received. In other 
words, it is difficult or impossible to compute from them the 
precise expense of any given year's school. This indefinite- 
ness arises from two facts : (i) the date recorded is that of 
the transaction (not that when the expense was incurred) ; 
(2) there is no clear distinction between maintenance {i.e. 
repairs, replacements, etc.) and capital outlay. The latter 
is an investment, of course, in future, not current, education. 
Secondly, they do not distinguish between the purposes for 
which the expenditure was made, such as administration, 
supervision, instruction, operation, maintenance, and perma- 
nent improvement. It is therefore impossible to collect 
accurate statistics on these phases of education. Thirdly, 
they do not provide the necessary data for computing unit 
costs. Some principals desire to report the cost of each grade 
in the elementary school and each subject in the high school. 
The advance of educational science depends upon such com- 

1 See Hutchinson's School Costs and School Accounting. Published by Colum- 
bia University. 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 215 

parisons. But the records in common use neither show unit 
costs nor furnish data for computing them. 

The Usual Warrant Registers. — Suitable ledgers for 
registering receipts and expenditures should provide separate 
columns for the following sorts or purposes of expenditures : 
general control, instruction, operation of plant, maintenance 
of plant, auxiliary agencies, capital outlay, and current debt. 
Each of these should be subdivided. Several commercial 
firms make and sell such ledgers. The John C. Moore Cor- 
poration, 69-71 Stone Street, Rochester, N. Y., furnishes 
one. Their register enters all items on a single long page 
ruled vertically into columns for the various purposes and 
subpurposes just mentioned. C. F. Williams and Son, 36 
Beaver Street, Albany, N. Y., furnish another. Theirs is a 
loose leaf ledger with separate pages devoted to the several 
purposes. These both have the approval of the United States 
Bureau of Education, and information will be furnished upon 
request. 

These blanks, however, have two objectionable features 
for use in small schools. The first is that there are more 
subdivisions than are really necessary for a small system. 
This makes them needlessly complicated, expensive, and 
unwieldy. This, however, is not a serious objection. The 
second objection is that in a small system certain expenditures 
would have to be distributed among the several columns. 
For example, the principal's salary would have to be entered 
partly in the general control column and partly in the instruc- 
tion column, and the entry under the latter would have to be 
subdivided between supervision and teaching. There is no 
easy provision for this distribution. 

A more fundamental criticism of these authorized blanks 







j 


^ 






a 


~~V 






H 


A 






i9 


1 


erf 
w 


i 


J 




[ 






S feu 


i 






OtS* 




• j 






9z 


/ 






<<22 




• 


i 

g 

o 


U^H 




Z 

J 

IE 


j a 




2 > 






w 
z 


oo 






*5 




3 


O 






H 
















D 








Q 








£ 








< 






9 












5 




a 




3 




I 




* 


a 


/ 




4 


En 


1 




X 




\ 


Q 


u. 


£ 


\ 


0* 


w 

=r 


« 


) 





C^ 


£ 


/ 


£ 


12 


£ 




_J 


w i 






ss 


si 






< 


D 






2 








"Z 


(0 








B 

..-1 


W 

W 
ft 


2 


1 


( 


«3 


1 




f 


o 


j 


u 






s: 


\ 



CO 


o 

H 

o 

£> 

05 

w 

2 


J 
< 
r- 
O 

H 








■I 








\ 


Ct h. D 

UOft! 

5 is 

o 3 








I 










.2 

x o 

M o 








I 








\ 


55 








/ 








1 


CO 0! 








/ 








( 


[J o 

CO > 








/ 








( 



w 

O 


10 

s 

u 

z 
w 

< 

1 

1 










7 










\ 






... N 


2 

O 

1 

o 
a 
















! 


en' u 

gig 
3°| 








/ 






i 


1 


1 

£ 



















8 .SP .3 



H) 



ft u 



as e 

O -i 

T3 O 



+j .a as 



"2 

O +j 



"2 c3 | 
If cS S 



fc a 



o 

CI 



J8 ti § 



I -2 S 

= ,11 

I a,s-§ 

en M CD 

■g O . ^ 
•-3 ^ cS ^ 

3 O c3 p, 
En 42 ft S 



4-> Pi 
en ci 



si 

l> -^ 
ft w 

en S 

^ ft 

■*-> 3 



o o 

el ■*-> 



^ S >> 

b o <u 



c ei 

Ja 

'O cS 






'SI 

* - 

-el i3 
-" el 



«<3 S 



a -=3 



> 



flu «C 



i* 1 t tr 
•5-; o 



or 8 * 

o S 



> Ice 






a fa S 

S u ;? 

g u a- 

£* 3 

uj a, cr 



a. 

P 
«» j 
OS 



cq 






■Z .9 



o .2 
en Td 



« H ft 



" 1 1*3.2 



a 



a +j 

ft <u 
CD 3 

■5 $ 



•° £ 



a -5 g 






ft a 



en en 

g. a 

.g «: 

/— ^ o 



~ ft 
c3 -a 



o t3 



u 



en 



8 „ c 
a o 



CD 



1 1 2 

-^ .a o 

d O M 

<u ft -S 

a * ° 



a £ 
a --a 

b ^a 



03 O en 

cu O 

as a 

a _£ 2 

«5 'O .-a 

^ 12 -a 

la "> .55 

t3 a 

en ^ SuO 

* 8 -a 

■§ 8. -a 

cj O ^ 



en PQ 



.3 w 



rt rt * 

CD »H 

It .2 

rt a § 
«i a -a 



o "g ^ 



f en 



8 .§ 'i tf s w 

■3 m .« a, <u 



H 0) «3 "^ 



>» H -y 



a pq 



,o >» CD 

S B^ ft 



CD o to 

5 5 3 

a a) 

tj £ a 

d o <u 



<u ^a o 



11 II 



fe a 

P* <D 
-Jj en 

'3 -^ 

& s 

T3 "S 






S S«2 



•2 -"=1 






2 ^ 

^ I 

3 ft 

« a 



^ a .1^2 

ft 2 m- 

«« S 2 © 

o >> p, cu 

g ft x) -a 

a ^ tj ^ 

a a I - 



a O tn K 



218 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 



■a|o 



00 






•o 

8 S 



o £ £ 

E I § 

s a s 



1 ,8 

?S 03 



S, "I 



I 



> a ° m. 



s*i 9 ilJlill^J*lMI|!*3i 

g || J! 1 ~*\ ||i lHI-s i 1 1 1 1 " 



s ^ § 



is that they do not recognize the distinction between current 
expense and capital outlay, but include the latter in the grand 
total for the year's expenditures. Capital outlay is, of course, 
an investment in future instruction. It would seem obvious, 
therefore, that there ought to be some provision for entering 
estimated depreciation of plant, instead of capital outlay, 
in the year's expenses. 

A Warrant Register for the Small School. — To meet these 
objections the authors offer herewith the forms for a clerk's 
financial register which they hope will be suited to the needs 
of the small school (Fig. 22). The principal will find it a 
small task to rule such a register as this for himself. 

The blank for the computation of unit costs (Fig. 23) pro- 
vides for computing the cost of each grade in the elementary 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 219 

school and each subject in the high school. The computation 
for which this blank is available can be made in greater or less 
detail as the principal may desire. The enterprise of com- 
puting unit costs is in harmony with the present pedagogical 
quest for standards of measurements. Just as the educa- 
tional measurements movement aims to measure the products 
of the education factory, so financial measurements would 
measure its costs. The purpose in computing such unit 
costs is to furnish data for comparing expenditures for dif- 
ferent high school subjects and elementary departments, and 
for comparing expenditures for each of these items with like 
expenditures of other schools. Eventually scientific stand- 
ards for such expenditures will emerge. In short, both finan- 
cial and instructional statistics will, as educational adminis- 
tration grows more scientific, become increasingly indispen- 
sable in engineering the policy of one's school. This use will 
focus in the annual budget and the annual report to the public. 
A few words need to be said about each of these. 

Budget Making. — Professor Baker quotes from Mr. Mason, 
secretary- treasurer of the St. Louis Board of Education, the 
following definition : " A budget is a financial statement, 
covering a fiscal year in advance, showing the anticipated 
revenue and appropriations of a body having control of the 
distribution of public funds." In very few small towns is a 
school budget prepared in any systematic fashion. Professor 
Baker insinuates that the majority of school board members 
do not so much as know what the word budget means. As 
a rule they make a lump estimate about equal to the amount 
expended the year before, perhaps a little larger or a little 
smaller as they may guess will be needed, and levy a tax 
that they think will produce the amount. But this is poor 

















- 1 




n - 




. 




i ._. 


































































i 






















l!i 






















<no#- - 




































































ftOjS 






















- 






















i 

X 
o 

t 

z 

u 
S 

M 

w 

* 
























£o*s 










































ll« 






















UOji 














































2?« 
























£gg 










































<u 


III 




















'So 


$o^ " 




















PA 

CO 










































c^ 


tSgg - " 








































"2 


, 2 v, 




















^sg _ 




















1 






















CO 
CN 






















d 


h <^ 




















ti 


voog c,>t£i3 

&IXN3 JO XNf 


O NI 






















owv 






















J.NVtf2lV/<(\ 






















8 w o o £ 

S S s? o « S " * 

gw»r.« l ..s 

w fi S 5 z * 


h 
W 

z'S 

O (. 

U 

o v 

9i 

Is 


3< 

5(5 

»!* 

s w H 


di 

I 

< 
W 

H 

u. 




u 

5 
S5 


2 


H 


D 

h 
1 

2 

u 

0. 

a 

D 

5 




D 
s^ 
H 
J> 
2 

b. 


H 


1? § 

5 > o 

< 8* 

J) u 

P ■ w 

5 ^ 

za<h 


1 

h 

o o 

Ul [J 

ll 
D 

O W 

a 2 o 
< ** 2 

<^§ 

- « iO 


< 

2 
u 

H 

2 
< 

s 

u 



w 
^ 

2 
a. 
W 

W 




w 
u 
2 

u 

I 

3 o z 

m 


o r* 

o 






1 

2 
U 

o 


8 | H J 




1- 

15 

| g 

>l s 


ji 


> 





Records, Accounts, and Reports 



221 




business method. If school administration in small places 
is to be put on a scientific basis, and a professional policy out- 
lined and developed, the budgetary plan should be adopted. 
And the principal should take the lead in the matter ; indeed, 
the budget should be prepared by the principal and approved 
by the board. State law ought to authorize the superin- 
tendent to prepare and present to the board, and require the 
board to publish, a budget. Obviously the principal's policy 
must be financed ; and if the board disapproves the principal's 
budget, which it of course has the legal right to do, it thereby 



222 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

disapproves of his policy ; for the budget is the financial ex- 
pression of the policy. The more clearly he conceives his 
policy the more definitely he will desire to express it in dollars 
and cents ; and the more definitely he figures it out in dollars 
and cents the more clearly he will himself conceive it. And 
the more definitely he conceives his policy, the reasons for it 
and the cost of it, the more successful he will be in convincing 
his board and the public that it ought to be carried out. 

Budgetary Standards. — Strayer l recommends the follow- 
ing proportion of appropriation for the various items in the 
budget. 

Per cent Per cent 
or Total of Total 

Teaching and supervision from 70 to 75 

Supervision alone 7 to 10 

Teaching alone 60 to 68 

Janitors' salaries 5 to 7 

Textbooks and supplies 4 to 6 

Fuel 5 to 7 

Repairs 3 to 5 

However, he recommends that " cities spending a relatively 
large amount per pupil should spend a relatively larger pro- 
portion for teaching and supervision, and for textbooks and 
supplies ; while the proportion spent for fuel, repairs, and 
janitors' salaries should increase much more slowly.'' It 
would seem that this ought to be constructed in terms com- 
mensurate with the clerk's register. 

These figures may be accepted tentatively as a budgetary 
standard for village schools, though no one knows what the 
average practice is nor what the standards ought to be. The 
first could be ascertained approximately for any given section 
by tabulating such statistics as are available from a consider- 

1 City School Expenditures, p. 79. 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 223 

able number of typical towns. The second can be determined 
only by a comparative study of unit costs and educational 
results in a large number of schools where both financial and 
instructional statistics have been intelligently kept for a 
considerable time. In other words, scientific standards of 
expenditures wait upon the growth of the professional attitude 
of principals pleaded for in this chapter. It is important 
that village boards be trained to make their budgets with such 
a table as this before them, apportioning amounts to each 
purpose on the basis of these percentages. The desirability 
of working out such tables for village schools is therefore 
obvious. A considerable beginning has been made along 
this line (see references) ; but this still remains a profitable 
field for departments of education in universities, colleges, 
and normal schools that serve village constituencies. 

Classification of Financial Records. — The following outline 
of necessary financial records is submitted : 

Financial Records 
I. Receipts, itemized as to sources. 
II. Expenditures. 

1. Papers for auditor's inspection, i.e., orders, bills, receipts, 

checks, etc. conveniently filed. 1 

2. Clerk's Financial Record (Fig. 22). 

3. Unit Costs Register, if desired (Fig. 23). 

III. Property Invoice, showing : 

1. Plant. 

2. Equipment. 

3. Supplies. 

IV. Budget, itemized as per clerk's register. 

1 The inexperienced principal will find in almost any village business men 
who can help him devise these forms. For invoicing supplies Strayer and 
Engelhardt furnish a very useful blank book. 



224 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

The Principal's Annual Report to the Public. — If the prin- 
cipal is to succeed in developing his policy he must have the 
backing and support of the people. To them his arguments 
must, accordingly, be presented; and they will consist, in 
part at least, of the facts revealed by his statistical and in- 
structional records. His problem is how these facts and their 
bearing on his plans can be presented to the public in a way 
that will create public opinion. 

It is customary for city superintendents to get out annual 
reports. This is a practice that might be followed to advan- 
tage by the village principal, though unless he can succeed 
better than the average city superintendent does in getting 
them read by the public it is hardly worth while. It is well 
for the board to adopt the report and put it out as the report 
of the board of education. It must not be too long ; it should 
contain the most salient facts, both financial and instructional ; 
and they should be interpreted so that the reader will see the 
conclusion to which they point. The pages should not be 
solid blocks of printed matter — few people will read that ; the 
facts should instead be presented as much as possible in graphic 
form. Brinton's Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts l 
is a book full of valuable suggestions on this subject. 

There are no established standards as to just what should 
be included in the report. The facts as to attendance, prog- 
ress, health, and expenditures will probably appeal to the 
principal as most significant ; the aspects or relations of these 
facts which he chooses to display will depend somewhat upon 
his own interests, policy, and ingenuity. It might be well to 
report how much the district spends for schools. Compar- 

1 The book is rather expensive, and the board should be induced to purchase 
it. It is published by The Engineering Magazine Company, New York City. 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 



225 



isons with other districts will often be suggestive (Fig. 24). 
The purposes for which the school board spends the district's 
money is also a matter that lends itself very readily to graphic 
representation (Fig. 25). Costs can be computed for vari- 
ous units (Figs. 26, 27), and readily displayed. Instructional 
data make equally interesting graphs of which the age grade 



Los Angeles 

Seattle /' 

Pittsburgh 

Bostoji 

Portland 

Kansas City 

Minneapolis 

St.Louis 

Washington 

Buffalo 

Newark 

Chicago 

Indianapolis 

Cleveland 

San Francisco 

Detroit 

Jersey City 

Philadelphia 

Milwaukee 

New Orleans 

Baltimore 































































































































































































































$s 


$& 


$3 


$i 


$5 


$6 






$64.78 
61.18 
58.97 
56.73 
55.38 
52.96 
52.70 
52.10 
51 .34 
51.32 
50.25 
47.48 
i6.59 
46.38 
45.08 
44.66 
43.17 
40.74 
38.51 
33.07 
32.54 



Fig. 24. 



Per Pupil-year Expense of Maintenance and Operation in Twenty Cities 
(from the Boston Survey, 1916, p. 156). 



distributions have been longest in use (Figs. 28, 29, 30). The 
progress of pupils can also be reported graphically. It is es- 
pecially desirable to graph the findings of the standard tests 
(Fig. 31) ; and the principal's interest in this will increase as he 
studies the tests and the surveys. The Cleveland Survey is 
particularly suggestive along this line (see " Measuring the 
Work of the Public Schools ") . From the surveys, from the re- 
ports of city superintendents, and from the bulletin referred to 
at the beginning of this chapter the resourceful principal will 
derive many suggestions as to what facts would interest his 
patrons in the furtherance of his policy (Figs. 32, 33). There 



226 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

are a great many interesting facts, especially those pertaining 
to extra-curricular activities, that can best be presented by 
pictures. 



Teachers 
Salaries 




Fig. 25. — What Your School Board Does with Your Dollar (Adapted from the 
Rockford, 111., Survey, 1915— 16). 



These reports can be mailed to patrons, handed out to the 
older pupils, or distributed at parent- teacher meetings. It 
is not necessary, however, to limit the use of printer's ink 
to the annual report. The material it contains, and other 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 



227 



material as well, can be published, bit by bit, in the local 
weekly. The editor will accept it with a sigh of relief — it 
fills up his space ! A presentation of facts and policies, 





English 
$.16 




Mathematics 


/ Science 






$.127 


1 $.163 








; Art $.004 






History 


\Tchr. T'r. * ™° ^ — : 




$.098 








Manual 


\ -tAP^ / Latin j 






Arts 






v $.092 


House- I 






N? / $.063 1 


hold 1 


Commercial \ 


\/^ /Occupations 


1 $.089 






$.086 







Fig. 26. — What the High School Dollar Buys (Based on a study of ten towns in 
South Dakota. See Educational Administration and Supervision, for November, 
1918, p. 454)- 



graphically illustrated, might well be worked into the com- 
mencement program. In many places the house would be 
filled if an extra evening were devoted principally to it. 



228 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 



2 Music 
2 Phys. Edn. 
8 English 
U Math. 

5 History 

6 Household Occ'p'ns 

7 Science 

8 Latin 

9 Commerical 

10 Mod. Lang. 

11 Man'lArts 

12 Agriculture 

13 Teacher Trg. 

14 Art 



$.013 
.033 
.01,5 
.051 
.051 
.057 
.058 
.06 
.061, 
.073 
.077 



Fig. 27. 



Cost of High School Instruction per Pupil-hour in Ten South Dakota 
Towns. 



AGE AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION TABLE 
(Filled out for the eohools of Carrington, H. D. , by Supt. A. L. Sehafer) 



GRADE 


AGE 


I 


II 


III 


IV 


V 


VI 


VII 


ran 


IX 


X 


XI 


XII 


Total 


6 


17 


1 






















18 


7 


6 


22 























28 


e 


4 


7 


14 


1 


















26 


9 




2 


4 


19 


2 
















27 


10 






s 


8 


12 


1 














26 


11 








5 


15 


16 


1 












37 


12 








1 


7 


12 


9 


1 










30 


13 










e 


4 


10 


14 










33 


14 












1 


7 


10 










18 


15 














4 


s 










9 


16 














1 . 













1 


17 
















1 










1 


18 




























19 




























Total 


27 


32 


23 


34 


41 


34 


32 


31 










254 



Fig. 28. — Age-Grade Table. 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 



229 



Indeed the commencement program could profitably and 
successfully be extended over several evenings, as is the 
custom at small colleges, thus affording an opportunity to 
present to the public this and other valuable material. 



11 



in 



IV 



vi I 



VII 



VIII 



PER CENT OF AGE AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION 



Accelerated 
( shaded) 



Normal 
(white) 



Retarded 
( shaded) 




20% 40% 40% 20% 

Fig. 29. — Age-Grade Table (Same data as in Fig. 28). 



Educational Surveys. — As is well known, no doubt, to the 
reader numerous cities have conducted educational surveys 
during the past ten years. The object has been to find out, 
by a systematic, scientific inquiry, what the actual educa- 



T AGE-GRADE TABLE 

. . , FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 


























Grade 
Section 


Kindergarten 


First Grade 


Second Grade 


Th,rd Graoe 








1 


1 


1 




Age 


Age, period 

includes all 

children whose 

ages run 

from 




NORMAL AGE LIMITS FOR ENTRANCE INTO EACH GRADE NORMAL AGE LIMI 


4 yrs. 9 mos. 

5 yrs. 9 mos. 


5 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 

6 yrs. 3 mos. 


5 yrs. 9 mos. 
to 


6 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 

7 yrs. 3 mos. 


6 yrs. 9 mos. 

to 

7 yrs. 9 mos. 


7 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 

8 yrs. 3 mos. 


7 yrs.. 9 mos. 

8 yrs. 9 mos. 


8 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 

9 yrs. 3 mos. 


8yr: 
9 yr 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


4jyrs. 


4 yrs. 3 mos. 
4 yrs. 9 mos. 




















































Syrs. 


4 yrs. 9 mos. 

5 yrs. 3 mos. 




















































Si yrs. 


5 yrs. 3 mos. 
3 yrs. 9 mos. 




















































6yrs. 


5 yrs. 9 mos. 

to 

6 yrs. 3 mos. 




















































6} yrs. 


6 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 
6 yrs. 9 mos. 




















































j 1 yrs. 


6 yrs. 9 mos. 

7 yrs. 3 mos. 






























1 




















7} yrs. 


7 yrs. 3 mos. 
7 yrs. 9 mos. 






































1 














i 8 yrs. 


7 yrs. 9 mos. 

to 

8 yrs. 3 mos. 






























!; 












1 








8} yrs. 


8 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 
8 yrs. 9 mos. 






































| 














9yrs. 


8 yrs. 9 mos. 

9 yrs. 3 mos. 












































I 








9Jyrs. 


9 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 
9 yre. 9 mos. 


















































I 


10 yrs. 


9 yrs. 9 mos: 

to 

10 yrs. 3 mos. 




















































10} yrs. 


10 yrs. 3 mos. 
10 yrs. 9 mos. 




















































llyrs. 


10 yrs. 9 mos. 

to 

11 vr» 3 mna. 






















































1 18 yrs. 3 mos. 




















































? Total Number 


















































' 


Number of normal 
age children 




















































Number of over-age 
children 




















































Number of under-age 
children 




















































Per cent of children 
of normal age 




















































Per cent of children 
over age 




















































Per cent of children 
underage 




















































STRAYER.ENGELHARDT SCHOOL RECORD CARD SERIES-C. F. WILLIAMS & SON, INC.. ALBANY. H. V. 



Fig. 30. — The Strayer-Engelhardt 



1 




Compiled,.,,.....-. ~.»™r^ — Ages Computed* as of Sept !, 19 


II Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grade 


Seventh Grade Eighth Grade 


Total 


1 1 


1 1 


till 




) EACH GRADE NORMAL ACE LIMITS FOR ENTRANCE INTO EACH GRADE 




is. 9 yrs. 9 mos. 

to 
os. 1 yrs. 9 mos. 


10 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 

1 1 yrs. 3 mos. 


10 yrs. 9 mos. 

to 

1 1 yrs. 9 mos. 


1 1 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 

12 yrsi 3 mos. 


11 yrs. 9 mos. 

1 2 yrs. 9 mos. 


12 yrs. 3 mos. 

13 yrs. 3 mos. 


12 yrs. 9 mos. 

to 

13 yrs. 9 mos. 


13 yrs. 3 mos. 

to 

14 yrs. 3 mos. 




r B G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T 


B 


G 


T || B 


G 


T 






























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































_ 




















































T 
























































1 














































■ 














































































































r~ 




































































































































































































































































__ 




















































•UseStrayer-EnielhardtAce-CompueatloDTable-C. P. WiuiamS * Son. Inc. 



Age-Grade Distribution Blank. 



232 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 




Fig. 31. — Improvement in Handwriting (from the Rockford Survey). 




Fig. 32. — Showing Health Conditions (Rockford Survey). 



tional needs of the community are, and with what efficiency 
and success the schools are actually performing their work. 
These surveys have been given wide publicity, both locally 



Records , Accounts, and Reports 



233 



in the daily press, and generally through books and periodicals. 
The result has been to stimulate local interest in the schools, 
and to furnish data on the basis of which contributions have 











































&s^ 






















V 




\ V 










V 


v\ 






V 


V 


/^C 




&S^ 


N^e 




/\^ 


e c e 




^V* 




^^^ ^^" 

J^*^ 


^ 








^\« 



CAUSES; 
a. Parents saw 
no use of more 
schooling 

6. Pupil in- 
different 

c. Sickness 

d. Failure in 
studies 

e. Poverty 



7 8 9 10 11 12 

Grades 

Fig. 33. — -Withdrawals by Grades, and Causes. 

been made to the cause of education. Some beginnings have 
been made in surveying the schools of villages and rural com- 
munities. Any principal who can secure an educational 
survey of his own district will set a good example, for a great 
deal of such work ought to be done in the next few years ; and 
he will add greatly to his patrons' intelligent interest in their 
schools. 

It is hardly practicable to make such a survey without out- 
side help. The principal who petitions his nearest normal 
school, or some good college, or his state university, or all 



234 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

three, for expert assistance will probably find them anxious 
to participate, especially if the board shows a reasonable 
liberality in footing the bills. It is unnecessary to furnish 
any suggestions here for such a survey, as the experts who 
come to the local principal's assistance will know how to pro- 
ceed. However, an informal survey by local workers may 
prove better than no survey at all, and may often pave the 
way for a really expert survey. If the principal wishes to 
undertake such a survey we recommend that he first make a 
study of some such survey as the Cleveland survey. To this 
end he should first procure Ayres' summary volume of the 
Cleveland School Survey. This book costs fifty cents and 
can be had from the Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, 
or from the Russell Sage Foundation, New York City. This 
little book gives a general description of the Survey. From 
it one can derive a fairly good idea of what a school survey 
ought to cover. By its guidance he can, if he has some 
ingenuity, outline a fairly comprehensive survey program. 
It contains a list of all the volumes published in connection 
with the Cleveland Survey, from which list the principal 
can select such as he thinks will interest him. Most of them 
cost only a quarter ; and every educator should as a matter 
of professional information familiarize himself with this and 
other surveys, if he has not already done so. 



REFERENCES 

Ayres, Leonard P. The Cleveland School Survey (Summary Volume). 

See comments in last paragraph of this chapter. 
Ayres, Leonard P. Child Accounting in the Public Schools. 

One of the Cleveland Survey Series ; a very suggestive little book. 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 235 

Baker, George M. Financial Practices in Cities and Towns below 
Twenty-five Thousand, in School Board Journal, Vols. I, III, IV, 
(Oct., 1916 to June, 1917). 
A good discussion of the small town problems. 

Bliss, Don C. Methods and Standards for Local School Surveys. 
This little book gives detailed instructions for conducting surveys. 

Butte, Montana. Report of a Survey of the School System (19 14). 
Chapter XI deals with the subject of costs and financial records. 

Cubberley, E. P. Public School Administration. 

Chapters XXV and XXVI treat the subject of costs, records, and 
reports for the city situation. For age and grade distribution, see 
Chapter XVIII. 

Dutton, S. T., and Snedden, D. Administration of Public Education 
in the United States. Revised Edition. 
See Chapters XXIX and XXX. 

Edmondson, J. B. Advertising High School Opportunities, American 
School Board Journal, Nov., 19 18. 
Practical suggestions for the principal's publicity campaign. 

Hutchinson, J. H. School Costs and Accounting. 

A critical study of thirty-eight cities ranging in population from 
10,000 to 1,000,000. Points out the defects of customary account- 
ing, and offers valuable recommendations. 

McConaughy, J. L. High School Marks and Costs in New Hampshire 
and Vermont, in Educational Administration and Supervision 
(Warwick and York, Baltimore), Oct., 19 18. 
A study of a dozen village schools, carried on by the principals them- 
selves, under the leadership of a near-by college — exactly the sort 
of work that ought to be done everywhere. An exceedingly sug- 
gestive article. 

National Education Association Committee. Final Report of the 
Committee on Uniform Records and Reports. Printed also as Bulletin 
No. 3, 1912. U. S. Bureau of Education. 

Orr, Wm. Business Methods and Standards in Education. American 
School Board Journal, Dec, 1918. 

Portland, Oregon. Report of a Survey of the Public School System 
(1914), 441 pp. Reprinted by World Book Co., Yonkers, N. Y., 1915. 



236 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

Chapter II deals with business organization, Chapter XVII with 

costs, and Chapter XVI with the annual report. 

Salt Lake City. Report of a Survey of the School System (191 5) , 324 pp. 

Chapter II deals with the business organization, and Chapter XIII 

with the financial problem. 

Snedden, D., and Allen, W. H. School Reports and School Efficiency. 

Tells how to collect, tabulate, and publish school facts. 
Snively, Edward T. The Boy and the School. 
A partial survey of the schools of Fort Dodge, Iowa. Bulletin 32, 
Engineering Extension Department, Iowa State College, Ames, 
Iowa. 
Spaulding, F. E. The Application of the Principles of Scientific Manage- 
ment, in Proceedings of National Education Association, 19 13, pp. 
259-279. 
Strayer, Geo. D., and Engelhardt, N. L. The Classroom Teacher at 
Work in American Schools. American Book Company, New York, 
1919. 
This book covers the work of the classroom teacher with special em- 
phasis on the interpretation of administrative problems for the 
benefit of the teacher. It will be found especially helpful in con- 
nection with all of the teacher's problems which may be considered 
as problems of management or control of a classroom or of a 
school. 
Strayer, George D. Some Problems in City School Administration. 
Chapter IV, on Census, Records, Reports, and Chapter V, on Finance 

and Accounts. 
Like all the books, it treats of the city situation. 
Tolbert, Gertrude M. The School Bulletin and the Community, in 
School and Society (Garrison, N. Y.), Oct. 19, 1918. 
A unique plan for publicity. 
Wheat, Harry G. Cost of Instruction in the High Schools of West 
Virginia. 
A pioneer contribution to the study of village costs. 
Whitney, F. L. Exchange of Pupil Unit Costs among Small School 
Systems, in American School Board Journal (Milwaukee), May, 
1918. 



Records, Accounts, and Reports 237 

Another interesting pioneer contribution to this important subject, 
by the superintendent of a relatively small school. 
Wilcox, George M. Cost of High School Instruction, in Educational 
Administration and Supervision, Nov., 1918. 

Includes a study of costs in some thirty village high schools in South 



Dakota. A good bibliography is appended. 



PART V 
MISCELLANEOUS 



CHAPTER XVI 
GETTING A GOOD START 

There are many familiar old epigrams that express the 
importance of getting a good start. The secret of making a 
success of the first day of school is to have every detail planned 
in advance so that no unforeseen emergency will arise. The 
following suggestions are offered to aid the inexperienced 
principal in doing this. 

Arrive Early. — When one is called to the principalship of 
a new school it is important that he should, if possible, appear 
upon the scene several weeks before school begins. He will 
need plenty of time to find a suitable house, and to get his 
family thoroughly settled. If he has no family, it is important 
that he take time enough to make sure that he has a suitable 
place to room and board. The success of principal or teachers 
often hinges on the influence of the boarding place. Other 
relations need to be chosen with only less care, namely his 
bank, his church, and his trading places. There are always 
circumstances to be considered, and no two small towns are 
alike. The more thoroughly the new principal knows the 
local situation the less liable he is to make mistakes in these 
delicate matters. And the more agreeable personal acquaint- 
ances the principal can form in advance of the opening of 
school, the better. They will all prove assets to him. If 
the big boys get acquainted with the principal before school 
r 241 



242 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

begins, and become settled in the conviction that he is a good 
fellow, the battle is half won in advance. Likewise if the 
principal has met the patrons and established pleasant rela- 
tions with them in advance, they will stand by him later in 
the unpleasant situations incident to school discipline. 

Providing Necessary New Equipment. — The new principal 
should study the plant thoroughly and familiarize himself with 
its every detail. There are several objects in this. One is 
that he may think out the best plans for using it. Every detail 
of school work is determined in some measure by the building 
and furniture. The work of every grade from kindergarten 
to the senior class in high school will depend upon the material 
equipment ; so will every department of work, whether it be 
mathematics or domestic science, marching of classes, or 
athletics. No detail of this adjustment of work to plant 
should escape the principal ; no surprises should arise to dis- 
concert him after school work begins. As far as is practical 
the principal should familiarize himself with school records, 
and, if he is in a new state, with school laws and curriculum 
requirements. The amount of time that can profitably be 
devoted to this work is obviously large. 

The new principal will do well to make up his mind in 
advance to use what is furnished him to the best possible 
advantage. School boards will not as a rule take kindly to 
requests by the new principal for repairs, readjustments, and 
new materials. Nothing ought to be more valuable than 
the suggestions of a new, professionally-minded principal. 
Habit accustoms one to almost any glaring defect in the 
system. New principals and also members of the teaching 
staff, before they get into the local ruts themselves, see these 
defects. The principal himself should, as he grows older, 



Getting a Good Start 243 

and especially after he has held a position for some time, 
maintain a hospitable mind toward the suggestions of new 
teachers. The refusal of a principal to take this attitude is 
evidence that fossilization has set in. The same is true of 
the board. Nevertheless such a refusal on the part of his 
board is exactly what the new principal must be prepared to 
expect. 

While, therefore, it is his professional duty to secure 
improvements he must be exceedingly cautious and tactful in 
urging them at the very beginning. It is usually better to 
begin with approximately the equipment furnished and secure 
readjustments later. In other words, the new principal will 
begin formulating his policy during the weeks prior to the 
opening of school, but he must not rush his policy indis- 
creetly. If, however, in his study of conditions as they existed 
in the past, he finds some outstanding weakness, the new 
principal must come forth with constructive criticism and 
with a firm conviction that the change is absolutely necessary 
He will not be accused of faultfinding if his board can be 
made to realize that he has properly diagnosed the situa- 
tion, nor will they be loath as a rule to have the remedy 
applied. 

The beginning of school work is often hindered through lack 
of supplies. We recently heard of a village school where the 
authorities hesitated about ordering textbooks until school 
began, for fear of having extra copies left on hand. When 
school assembled the books were ordered, but unusual market 
conditions delayed delivery, with the result that the school 
lacked some much needed texts for two months. Such a 
situation might have been prevented. The principal might, 
by a little extra effort, have found out exactly what was 



244 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

needed a month before school opened. Had he presented 
evidence showing that he knew what he was about the board 
would undoubtedly have permitted him to place the order. 
The lack of other supplies is just as embarrassing as the lack 
of textbooks, and just as liable to occur unless the principal 
is forehanded and thoroughgoing. 

The principal should be present at one board meeting at 
least before school begins, and more if school business requires. 
It is well for the principal to draw up a few brief regulations 
defining the duties of the principal, teachers, pupils, and jani- 
tors, and have them approved by the board so that he will 
have these as a working basis. Suggestions for such rules may 
be gleaned from Chapter IV. 

Getting Teachers Started. — While the teachers will need a 
good deal less time than the principal to make their prelim- 
inary adjustments, they must not be allowed to postpone 
their arrivals till the last minute. They should arrive about 
the middle of the week before school opens, and the principal 
should write them to that effect, courteously but authori- 
tatively. It will be well for him to compile a list of available 
boarding and rooming places to suggest to teachers upon their 
arrival. Precautions should be taken to prevent teachers 
getting into the wrong homes. When new teachers arrive, 
the wise principal will meet them at the station and render 
them such kindly assistance as he can in getting settled. 

The first teachers' meeting (held preferably the Saturday 
previous to the opening of school) should concern itself with 
only those things absolutely necessary for the opening of 
school. The taking up of plans for the year should be left 
for a few days, as there is such a mass of this material that new 
teachers are easily confused if confronted with everything the 



Getting a Good Start , 245 

first meeting. The following items are appropriate for 
consideration at the first meeting : 

1. Assignment of teachers. 

2. Certification of teachers (if same was not attended to at 
time of employment). 

3. Course of study. 

4. Attendance and scholarship records. 

5. Handling of textbooks (if free texts are used). 

6. Enrollment of pupils. 

7. Arrangements for hall duty, with teachers assigned to 
same in rotation. 

8. Making out of reports. 

In small schools it is desirable to hold an informal personal 
interview with each teacher in order to clear up whatever un- 
certainties there may be in her mind as to what is expected of 
her. Each teacher should, before school begins, become ac- 
quainted with her schoolroom, its appurtenances and fur- 
nishings, and how she is to use them. She should definitely 
understand her assignment of work, familiarize herself with 
the register and the course of study, plan thoroughly her first 
day's work, and arrange a tentative program. If she does not 
understand how to do these things, the principal should not 
fail to give the situation his attention. The problem of 
getting her school organized and the work properly under way 
on the first day of school may also require the principal's 
oversight. Neglect here will cost the principal dearly later 
on. 

It is a very good and often quite necessary plan for the 
principal to compile, before school begins, a list of towns- 
people who have places where pupils may work for their 
board, and so prepare himself to assist such pupils to find em- 



246 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

ployment. If there is a good demand for such work, it might 
be possible to increase the enrollment by a little advertising. 

The First Day of School. — The practice is to be condemned 
of wasting most of the first day of school by attending to prac- 
tically nothing but enrollment. In some places each high 
school pupil is required to appear at the schoolhouse on 
Friday and Saturday, consult with his principal or adviser, 
make out his schedule of study, and secure textbooks and 
assignments. This is entirely commendable, because it 
enables the high school to begin business at nine o'clock 
Monday morning and get in a full day's work. Grade teachers 
should prepare a tentative program for the first day and see 
that every class does some serious work in practically every 
subject. If teachers do not know how to do this, the principal 
should help them to prepare and carry through their first day's 
program. 

At the close of the first day there will usually be occasion 
for personal conferences with individual teachers. 



CHAPTER XVII 

SUMMARY OF THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 

The Significance of Technique. — As was stated in Chapter 
V, an important part of the principal's task is the supervision 
of teachers. In order to do this work efficiently the principal 
must himself be master of the technique of teaching. The 
use in this connection of the word technique is intended to 
suggest what many young principals do not realize ; namely, 
that there is a right and a wrong way to handle these matters, 
and that the how of doing them is just as definitely settled as 
the how of performing an appendicitis operation, for instance. 
As a young machinist said about the care and use of motor 
cars : " You don't exchange ideas ; you've got to know ! " 
To take this attitude toward the technique of teaching is the 
first step in a professional career. It was not the original 
intention of the authors to discuss this technique. The study 
of administration should presuppose it. It is presumed that 
any person who is employed as principal has already mastered 
the technique of teaching. Unfortunately, however, such is 
not always the case. It seems desirable, therefore, for the 
sake of inexperienced and untrained principals, to include a 
short chapter on the subject. Space permits, however, but a 
brief outline treatment. It is absolutely necessary that the 
untrained principal secure the best books recommended in 
the References and master them as thoroughly as he expects 

247 



248 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

his fifth graders to master the multiplication table. Not 
otherwise can he expect to become a professional supervisor. 
There are three phases of her work in which the teacher is 
entitled to expert supervision, and of which the principal 
must, therefore, be master. These are (1) the technique of 
classroom management, (2) the technique of class instruction, 
and (3) the technique of school discipline. 

A. Classroom Management 1 

Classroom management is the term used in pedagogy to 
include the technique of managing a schoolroom. Strictly 
speaking, it does not cover the conduct of the recitation. 
The process of instruction is a separate science. 

There are two reasons why the teacher should be skillful 
in this phase of her work. The first is economy of time. If 
the classroom is badly managed, the resulting disorder will 
render instruction difficult, and vice versa. Secondly, the 
management of the school is itself a part of the pupil's edu- 
cation. Orderly, cooperative, efficient schools make orderly, 
helpful, efficient citizens, and vice versa. These ends should 
be held clearly in mind. 

Items to Be Habituated. — Certain schoolroom activities 
are purely mechanical, and it is the teacher's duty to reduce 
them to pupil-habits as soon as possible. The following 
may be enumerated : passing of lines (i.e. in or out of the 
schoolhouse, to and from recitation benches or blackboards, 
and during fire drills), distributing and collecting wraps, books, 
and materials, arranging books and materials in desks, 
keeping the classroom tidy, leaving the room, or securing neat 
written work. 

1 This section is virtually a summary of Bagley's Classroom Management. 



Summary of the Technique of Teaching 249 

All these involve the law of habit building, which may be 
stated in four rules : (1) At the very start, force vigorously 
upon the pupils' attention exactly what it is you want them 
to do ; (2) make the first attempt pleasurable (by explaining 
or praising) ; (3) repeat the process often, always making the 
children try to improve ; and (4) permit absolutely no excep- 
tions. 

A teacher is rightly judged, in part at least, by the order- 
liness with which these things are done. She must plan 
very carefully exactly how she wants these exercises carried 
out. Always have pupils occupy the same recitation seats 
and places at the blackboard. Every desk, especially in the 
lower grades, should be arranged like every other, the plan 
devised by the teacher, to prevent material such as pencils 
and paint boxes being dropped on the floor, and to enable 
children to find things without looking. Older children may 
be allowed to devise an arrangement provided it is orderly. 
There should be as little written work as possible, and teach- 
ers should look over practically all of it. Insist on children 
cleaning their shoes before coming in. Pencil sharpeners 
save dirt and time. Insist on pencils being sharpened before 
exercises begin. In lower grades have them taken up and 
passed out by monitors and sharpened meantime. The chief 
secret of getting neat written work is skill in specifying exactly 
what is wrong with a pupil's writing. Freeman's analysis 
(see Chapter VIII, p. 106) is useful in this connection. 

It is important for the teacher to get a good start. To do so 
she should visit her schoolroom in advance and take note of 
every detail. She should familiarize herself with the register 
and the course of study, and consult with the principal. 
Before school begins she should see that blackboards are clean, 



250 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

and that all needed materials are on hand. Then carefully 
plan the first day's work in detail. Plan also the passing of 
lines and all other mechanics. On the first morning be on 
hand early and see that everything is in readiness. Seat the 
children and dispose of wraps according to prearranged plan. 
Take the children's names. Assign seat work to the older 
classes, and proceed with recitations. Just before recess 
drill on the passing of lines. Monitors may be appointed. 
Then go through the day's work. 

The Daily Program. — It is obviously very important to 
have a good daily program. Program construction naturally 
has three phases : process, principles, and product. 

The process is as follows : (1) set down a list of subjects 
to be taught, (2) indicate at the left the number of classes in 
each, and (3) at the right the number of minutes each class 
should have. (4) This carried out further to the right will 
indicate the total minutes to each subject, which (5) may be 
totaled at the bottom of the column. The total will exceed 
the number of minutes in the school day (except in rooms hav- 
ing but one class) . (6) Then by erasures and rearrangement 
(a) consolidate classes, (b) combine subjects, and (c) alternate 
classes, until by (7) cutting down somewhat the length of 
time for each class you (8) get a new column of minutes per 
subject that totals the number of minutes in the school day. 

(9) Then assign your recitations to their place in the schedule, 

(10) changing and readjusting until part fits part in a com- 
pleted program. Finally (11) program study periods carefully. 

The following principles are to be observed. 

1 . The standard lengths of recitation periods are as follows : 
5-7 years, 15 minutes; 7-10 years, 20 minutes; 10-12 years, 
20 minutes ; 1 2-1 5 years, 30 minutes ; 15-18 years, 40 minutes. 



Summary of the Technique of Teaching 251 

2. About ten o'clock is the best part of the day, about two 
the next best ; after three o'clock is the poorest part of the 
day, after eleven-thirty is next to the poorest. 

3. The hardest subjects should be given the best parts of the 
day ; the easiest, the poorest. 

4. Two hard, or " fundamental," subjects {i.e. the three 
R's, including language and spelling) should not come to- 
gether. 

5. If the program is crowded, slight anything but funda- 
mentals. 

6. Writing or drawing should not follow an intermission. 

7. Young children should recite often, especially in reading. 

8. The younger classes should recite first. They should be 
given first consideration. 

9. Study periods should be scheduled as carefully as 
recitations. 

The product of program construction, i.e. the finished pro- 
gram, will, of course, differ in different schools. 

Attendance. — The teacher should know the state law 
regarding attendance. She should be required to report 
regularly to the principal. The consequences of tardiness 
must not be more disagreeable than the consequences of a 
half day's absence. Prizes and immunities from school work 
are poor incentives to regular and punctual attendance, nor 
should grades be arbitrarily penalized as punishment. School 
spirit or rivalry with other schools or rooms is sometimes an 
effective incentive. The seriousness with which the teacher 
discountenances delinquent attendance is very important. 
Communities differ so much in their sentiment regarding 
school attendance that general rules are hardly possible. If 
written excuses from home are required, great care must be 



252 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

taken to prevent forgeries. Insistence on attendance is 
overdone when children come to school sick. 

School Hygiene. — Certain rules of hygiene are to be 
observed. Children should be seated in seats and desks that 
fit them. If such furniture is adjustable the janitors should 
assist teachers in the adjustment. Pupils should be put in 
seats high enough so their feet will rest naturally on the 
floor. 

If necessary blocks of lumber should be laid on the floor on 
which to rest the feet. The desk should be just the right 
height to allow a comfortable position when writing, neither 
so low as to necessitate a stooped position, nor so high as to 
raise the right shoulder when writing. Lighting, ventilation, 
and heating have already been discussed (Chapter XIV). 
These are matters which the principal largely controls, except 
that the teacher must give careful attention to their regulation. 
Good posture, whether in studying, writing, or standing, must 
be diligently insisted upon until it becomes habitual. Chil- 
dren, especially young children, must not be asked to sit still 
too long. Teachers must always be on the lookout for children 
of defective hearing or vision. They should know how to 
give the standard ear and eye tests ; they should also be able 
to recognize the commonest symptoms of contagious diseases 
and be keenly alert to their presence. They must likewise be 
sensitive to all individual peculiarities of children. Mental 
health is on the whole best conserved when children are 
interested and happy. Calisthenics are not the most desirable 
of physical exercises, but they are better than none, and teach- 
ers should see that children have some good physical exercise 
every day. 



Summary of the Technique of Teaching 253 

B. Instruction 

Some Recognized Rules. — In the ordinary school the 
process of instruction usually divides itself into three parts : 
(1) the assignment, (2) the study period and (3) the recitation. 
A poor assignment consists in merely telling the class what the 
next lesson is. In a good assignment the teacher makes 
known definitely just what work she expects the class to do, 
arouses interest in that work, and furnishes such explana- 
tions as the pupils are likely to need to aid them in doing the 
work. How she should do this of course depends upon the 
subject matter and the peculiarities of the pupils. The 
success of the study period will depend a good deal upon the 
skill with which the assignment has been made. It should 
guide the pupil in his study. There are some subjects in 
which a list of questions given out in the assignment will 
greatly systematize the pupils' work. Children need to be 
taught how to study, and their study should be supervised. 
In the recitation the pupils should be held to strict account- 
ability for the work assigned. Never permit a child care- 
lessly to neglect or willfully to scamp work assigned. Be 
careful not to frame questions in such a way as to suggest the 
answer. Teachers may profitably spend considerable time 
and thought in preparing their questions in advance. State 
your question and then call upon the pupil who is to answer. 
This helps to keep the attention of all. Do not give the 
pupils a chance to anticipate who will be called upon. Refuse 
to repeat questions. Insist upon attention, and then you 
will be heard the first time. The answer is for the class as 
well as for the teacher ; therefore it is usually considered poor 
pedagogy to repeat the answer. Sometimes it is necessary, 



254 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

however, for clear, precise statement and emphasis. Be 
careful not to talk too much ; the children should do a good 
share of the talking. Maintain a quiet manner and a well- 
modulated voice. Unless the teacher knows her subject 
thoroughly, is interested in it, and has her recitation carefully 
planned in advance, she cannot hope to interest her class and 
hold their attention. 

The Various Types of Lessons. — It is customary to dis- 
tinguish three different types of lessons, following the psy- 
chological distinction between the conative, affective, and 
cognitive phases of mind. These three types of lessons are 
(i) the drill lesson, (2) the appreciation lesson, and (3) the 
knowledge lesson. When subject matter is to be reduced to 
habit we have the drill lesson. Spelling, writing, the number 
combinations, and other things to be impressed indelibly upon 
the memory, are lessons of this type. The appreciation 
lesson involves feeling, as when the pupil is expected to enjoy 
a poem, admire a hero, enthuse with an ideal, marvel at some- 
thing wonderful, or revere a natural law. When the pupil 
is to acquire some new item of information, either by being 
told or by discovering it for himself, we have a knowledge 
lesson. The teacher should decide which of these three kinds 
of subject matter she is about to present, and plan her lesson 
accordingly. In many cases the subject matter will be such 
as to call for a combination of two or more of these types 
in one recitation. 

The law of habit building governs the first type of lesson : 
First call attention of the class definitely and forcibly to what 
is wanted (never to what is not wanted, because that causes 
confusion). Take pains to make the first attempt successful 
and pleasurable. Then have the class repeat and repeat, 



Summary of the Technique of Teaching 255 

always taking thought and pains. Children should be taught 
that drill without thought and pains is not drill but only a 
waste of time. Finally, never permit it to be done wrong. 

The technique of the appreciation lesson is rather more 
obscure. A few rules may be set down, however. The thing 
to be appreciated must not be remote from the child's interests. 
A preadolescent boy, for instance, will be more apt to appre- 
ciate Ivanhoe than Job. The teacher herself must really 
appreciate. There can be no pretense here, nor should she 
sentimentalize. She should just appreciate ; appreciation is 
contagious. Tliis is the mark of a born teacher : she has a 
keen and genuine appreciation of the treasures of knowledge. 
Try to picture the thing to the imagination. Do not en- 
courage the children to say Oh ! and Ah ! That will develop 
only hypocrisy. 

Knowledge lessons are of two sorts, though the two often 
blend together. One is the telling lesson, the other the 
reasoning lesson. Whether it is the teacher or the textbook 
that tells, it is important that the pupil " apperceive " what is 
told, i.e. connect it with what he already knows about. This 
is done partly by selecting lesson material that the child will 
be interested in, partly by pointing out the connection between 
the new and old material. It is also important that the lesson 
be made objective. The German teachers take a great deal of 
pains to make things " anschaulich," that is, look-at-able. In 
other words, have the object, or something as nearly like the 
object as possible, plainly in sight. The teacher will be sur- 
prised how often she can do this if she really tries, and how 
it will rescue the children from merely parroting what the book 
says without understanding it. 

A good deal of what has been written about the thinking or 



256 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

reasoning lesson is crude, formal, and misleading. A few 
simple suggestions may be offered, however. The first is to 
inspire the pupils with the ambition to be thinkers. Some, 
of course, will not respond to this ideal, but the more capable 
will, if the teacher herself is an ambitious and capable thinker. 
No mere time server can accomplish this important result of 
teaching. The true teacher has a passion for learning. 
Secondly, the purpose of thinking is to solve some problem. 
Hence present a problem clearly and definitely to the child, 
and be sure that it is a problem that interests the child. 
Thirdly, teach the young thinker to be critical, i.e. to be 
careful about accepting his own or other people's conclusions 
until he is quite sure (a) that some consideration has not been 
overlooked, and (b) that the conclusion works. Impress 
him, however, with the fact that it is better to be right than 
to be original. Make him understand that to think soundly 
one needs to know and remember a great many facts. The 
more facts one knows the less likely one is to overlook some 
important item in the problem, and the more likely to find 
and connect the data that belong together. 

Reviews will depend upon the subject matter. Drill 
material needs to be reviewed at gradually lengthened intervals 
until it is mastered. Reviews of knowledge material should 
aim to rearrange the subject matter. Examination questions 
are of two sorts : those that call for detailed facts, and those 
that call for some inference from what is supposed to have 
been learned. The preference will depend upon the subject 
matter. Examination questions should always be carefully 
prepared. Catch questions are never allowable. 

Motivation. — The more interested pupils are the more 
energy they will put into their study, and consequently the 



Summary of the Technique of Teaching 257 

more rapidly they will learn. To interest the children is 
therefore a fundamental problem of pedagogy. The diffi- 
culty is that much of what we have to teach them in prep- 
aration for maturity is naturally uninteresting to them just 
because they are immature ; and any attempt to explain 
away this fact results only in soft pedagogy. However, 
much of what we must teach is not too mature for the children 
if we but take pains in arranging and presenting it ; and of 
course we ought to make it as interesting as possible. 

When the teacher thinks that her pupils will not be interested 
in the subject for its own sake she sometimes invents what is 
known as devices. A device is some activity that the children 
like to engage in, and in doing which they incidentally learn 
what the teacher wishes them to. Thus in playing the 
bean-bag game they practice addition. It is easy to overdo 
this sort of sugar coating, however, for two reasons: chil- 
dren often enjoy sheer drill more than teachers realize, and 
even if they do not specially enjoy it they should learn to 
work. The hard things of life are not to be regarded as 
electives, and the sooner children find that out the better. 
When devices are used in the upper grades it is desirable to 
select activities which are like those of life outside the school. 
Thus boys may build a hayrack, girls serve a meal, or the 
whole school give a dramatic program. Considerable language 
work, arithmetic, geography, and science, can be worked 
incidentally into such enterprises. This is called motivating 
the work. 

An incentive is some reward that the pupil may secure (or 
penalty he may avoid) by doing the work that is required of 
him. Prizes are bad incentives ; they discourage team work 
and appeal only to those who least need them. Immunities 



258 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

from school work are also bad ; they assume that pupils are 
right in wanting to avoid their work. Exhibition of pupils' 
work is liable to overemphasize written work, the only kind 
that can be exhibited. Pride in the good name of the school is 
a good incentive, and the best way to compare one's school 
with other schools is by the use of the standard tests. Grades 
and marks are gradually passing out of use. They worry the 
little folks to no avail ; the older pupils are liable to grow a 
thick skin so that poor grades have no smart. It is better 
for the teacher to deal individually with cases of delinquency. 
Perhaps the highest incentive is pride in scholarship. Only a 
true teacher can stimulate that kind of pride; gradgrinds 
will rely wholly on lower incentives because they have no 
scholarly instincts themselves. Punishment is not out of 
place in extreme cases of willful or careless disregard for 
assignments. Pupils in preadolescence and early adolesence 
are often desperately in need of being followed up diligently 
with a sharp stick, modern pedagogy to the contrary not- 
withstanding ; and they will usually take such medicine 
appreciatively if it is given in the right spirit. 

C. Discipline 

The Aim of Discipline. — Discipline is a means, not an end. 
The ends are two ; orderliness, so that school work may go 
on without interruption, and the development of character. 
The teacher must have clearly in mind (a) her ideal of an 
orderly school, and (b) the ends for which order is sought. 
The teacher's attitude toward the child is all important: 
children do not resent wise, sympathetic, even exacting, dis- 
cipline. There are various preventive measures in school 
discipline. One is the teacher's personality. Among the 



Summary of the Technique of Teaching 259 

qualities requisite to personal influence are scholarship, 
sympathetic good humor, evident interest in pupils' welfare, 
courtesy, tact, justice, a pleasant voice, patience, persistence, 
and courage. Good teaching is a valuable preventive 
measure ; interest is conducive to good order. The school 
that is permeated with a passion for learning will offer few 
disciplinary problems. Student activities and play have 
great disciplinary value for the same reason. The spirit of 
the school is an important item, this being due to various 
causes, viz. : the teacher's ideals and personality, the type of 
pupil leaders, and community sentiment. Loyalty to the 
school group and institution is one of the highest preventive 
incentives. 

Corrective Measures. — When repressive measures are 
necessary it is important that pupils as well as teachers 
acquire a clear ideal of school deportment. The realization 
of the ideal is then a matter of habit building, the laws of 
which have been enumerated before in this chapter. When 
offenses occur it will pay the teacher to inquire very carefully 
into the causes for their occurrence. Obviously causes cannot 
be removed till they are understood. 

As for corrective devices, Bagley specifies three requisites 
of good punishment : (1) it must cause the pupil a real dis- 
comfort, (2) it must appeal to the pupil as being just, (3) the 
pupil must associate it with the offense, not with some school 
exercise in connection with which the offense was committed. 
Miss Morehouse enumerates the following as undesirable 
punishments, viz. : threats, tasks, detention, taking away 
earned marks, personal indignities, sarcasm, and ridicule. 
Some of these are objectionable because they put regular school 
duties in the light of penalties. This tends to give the wrong 



260 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

impression. Among justifiable punishments she enumerates : 
isolation, reports to parents, appeal to public opinion, dep- 
rivation of privileges, restitution, suspension, and, in extreme 
cases, expulsion. If corporal punishment is resorted to in 
extreme cases it should be with the following limitations: 
it is almost always a mistake to whip an adolescent ; great care 
should be taken not to inflict any injury ; it is usually well 
to have a witness present. Substitutes for corporal punish- 
ment can usually be devised, such as " a rational presentation 
of the nature and effects of the offense, with a parole system 
and a set of records which act as a check upon the tendency 
to repeat it, — or the appeal to the ultimate authority of 
the board or the community as a support to the authority of 
the teacher." 

Punishment should almost never be administered impul- 
sively. The self-control to stop and think is a great achieve- 
ment. The attitude toward the offender is all important. 
The future welfare of the child, as well as of the school, 
should always be prominent in the teacher's mind, and the 
pupil should realize that fact. The doctor feels no resent- 
ment toward the patient from whom he is removing a danger- 
ous tumor, neither should the teacher toward a child under 
discipline. Educate the child by correcting his delinquencies, 
but let an appropriate sense of humor and a reassuring faith 
in the child's future save you from taking a child's childish- 
ness too seriously. Children will usually respond to such an 
attitude and cooperate in such an aim. But above all, 
motivate the work. The better the teacher motivates her 
work the less trouble she will have with discipline. 

If this very brief, outline chapter forcibly suggests the ne- 
cessity for further detailed study of the technique of teaching, 



Summary of the Technique of Teaching 261 

and furnishes some guidance in the meantime, it will serve 
the purposes for which it is inserted. 



REFERENCES 

Bagley, W. C. Classroom Management. 

A good book on the management of the schoolroom, though now 
somewhat out of date. 
Charters, W. W. Teaching the Common Branches. 

Takes up the pedagogy of the various subjects in detail. 
Earhart, Lida B. Types of Teaching. 

One of the best books obtainable on the conduct of the recitation. 
However, it emphasizes too much the Herbartian formalism. 
Freeland, G. E. Modern Elementary School Practice. 

A concrete presentation of modern principles irfelementary education. 
Freeman, Frank N. The Psychology of the Common Branches. 
Inglis, Alexander. Principles of Secondary Education. 

Includes discussion of high school pedagogy. 
McFee, Inez. The Teacher, the School and the Community. 

The best book for untrained beginners. 
Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. 

A very good book on high school pedagogy. 
Sears, J. B. Classroom Organization and Control. 

A good new book on school management. 
Strayer, G. D., and Norsworthy, Naomi, How to Teach. 

This is the book for the teacher to buy. The best book available in 
its field. 
Wilkinson, W. A. Rural School Management. 

A new and valuable book, designed especially for one-room country 
schools. 
Young, W. H. School Discipline, in Education (The Palmer Company, 
Boston), October and November, 191 8. 

Discusses the sort of school discipline that trains for citizenship. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
PROBLEMS PECULIAR TO A CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL 

Country Life and the Ideals of Democracy. — The con- 
solidated rural school is one of the most significant innovations 
in American education. It is one of the phases or effects of 
the country life movement, which has occupied so much 
attention during the past ten years: The fundamental 
aim of the country life philosophy is "to make farm life per- 
manently satisfying to representative American citizens.'' 
This aim has arisen from the profound insight that democracy 
cannot succeed in a country where any considerable fraction 
of the people do not participate in the use and enjoyment of 
the entire social heritage. As a matter of fact, from time 
immemorial, rural populations have always shared but 
meagerly in the civilizations of which they were a part. They 
have been peasants ! But American democracy seems deter- 
mined to tolerate no peasantry. Our farmers are coming to 
believe that they have as much right as any other class of 
citizens to all the good things of our civilization. That is the 
aim of the country life movement. 

Apply these principles to rural education, and the absurd 
inadequacy of the old one-room school becomes immediately 
obvious. The core of the matter is, that the country people 
cannot get along without secondary education. The con- 
solidated school movement means that farmers are providing 

262 



Problems Peculiar to a Consolidated School 263 

themselves with high schools suited to their own peculiar 
industrial and social needs, and commensurate in quality 
with the schools of their city cousins. Universal secondary 
education is essential to the success of democracy in a complex 
modern civilization, and to make it universal — rural as well 
as urban — consolidated rural schools are necessary. The 
time is not far distant when a one-room rural school will be 
considered a reproach to the community that tolerates it. 

The Country Life Movement. — The country life movement 
demands the improvement of rural life in several different 
phases : better homes, better farming, better marketing 
facilities, better churches, better schools, better communi- 
cation including better roads, better social life, and a larger 
political influence. The consolidated school stands in the 
relation of both cause and effect to each of these other 
phases. It will produce better homes through the teaching 
of domestic science. It will make better farming possible 
through the teaching of scientific agriculture. It will call 
for better roads to facilitate transportation of children to 
and from school. The consolidated school furnishes a natural 
center for the social life of the community. There are those 
who predict that the school buildings will, in many com- 
munities at least, be used on Sunday as places of worship. 
Certainly better education is necessary to a larger political 
influence. And in turn better homes, better farming, better 
social life, better roads, and more intelligent legislatures will 
react upon the schools, improving them. Thus institutions 
aid each other in the development of an all-round civilization. 

Qualifications for Rural Teaching. — The principal and the 
teachers of a consolidated rural school should be persons of 
certain special qualifications. They need to be rural minded. 



264 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

That means that they must know country life, must enjoy it 
and appreciate its advantages, and must feel that country 
people are their own kind of folks. In addition to this they 
should be well versed in the literature, philosophy, and aims 
of the country life movement. Any young man who finds 
himself called to the principalship of such a school will make a 
great mistake if he does not proceed at once to saturate himself 
in that literature. In other words he must study rural 
sociology. Otherwise he will fail to discern the significance 
of his own job. But if he does possess a profound sociological 
insight into the function of the rural school he will find oppor- 
tunities for usefulness and reasons for professional satis- 
faction where a blind man would see neither. And the more 
he knows about farming, from both the scientific and the 
practical points of view, the better he will fit into the situation. 
The Teacherage. — The first problem that is likely to con- 
front the principal of a consolidated school is the problem of 
a place to live. There is only one adequate solution to this 
problem, and that is a teacherage large enough to accommodate 
all the teachers and the janitor. In some rural schools the 
old one-room schoolhouse has been remodeled and used for 
that purpose. That is better than nothing, but it is seldom 
large enough. As time goes on rural school boards will come 
to see the necessity for this equipment and will provide it. 
Where teacherages have been erected they have proved a 
paying investment for the district from the financial stand- 
point alone, to say nothing of their inducement to good 
teachers. Meantime principal and teachers will have to 
make shift as best they can. One successful principal writes : 
" Our way is to list the available homes and let the teachers 
select. This is not altogether satisfactory.''* There is really 



Problems Peculiar to a Consolidated School 265 

but one solution to this problem and it is the principal's 
business to lead his board to see it as soon as he can. 

The Transportation Problem. — It is conceded by every- 
body that transportation of pupils is the most perplexing 
problem in connection with consolidated schools. By those 
who lose sight of the woods on account of the trees the diffi- 
culties involved in transportation are always urged as a 
major objection against consolidation. It is not an objection, 
however, but only a difficulty. And it is by no means an 
unsolved problem, as has now been demonstrated in very 
many districts. Experience seems to have demonstrated 
pretty clearly that the public system of transportation is 
best. Individual transportation does not prove satisfactory. 
Too many emergencies and excuses interfere with bringing 
the children to school, tardiness is excessive, attendance is 
irregular, and numerous petty irritations give rise to dissatis- 
faction. In Minnesota state aid is withheld from schools 
that use individual transportation. It has proved to be far 
more satisfactory for the district to own and furnish comfort- 
able vans, employ the drivers, prescribe schedules, and en- 
force systematic performance of the service. 

In the wheat belt the case in favor of the public system is 
not so clear as it is in the corn belt, due to the relative sparse- 
ness of population and the low tax valuation of land. In such 
regions a full bus load requires too long a haul. Instances are 
cited of children riding thirteen miles each way daily. On 
the other hand, to shorten the hauls by the use of more 
busses would involve so much expense as seriously to dis- 
courage consolidation. Hence there is some sentiment in 
these regions against the public system, and no doubt justly 
so. It is probable, however, that the individual system 



266 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

should be looked upon as a necessary but temporary make- 
shift. As one principal of long experience writes, " I would 
advise the individual system as a temporary substitute for the 
public bus only where the finances of the district need careful 
nursing for a few years." If this is the correct view of the 
matter, state aid for the public system should be developed 
as rapidly as practicable. 

There are now numerous concerns which manufacture 
satisfactory school vans. Their advertisements are displayed 
in educational papers, particularly in The American School 
Board Journal. The van should have glass sides with venti- 
lators, and should be warmed in cold weather by a heater de- 
signed especially for the purpose. It is fitted under the wagon 
bed, and is perfectly fireproof. Seats should be wide apart in 
order that children's knees may not touch. Toilets in school 
vans are not necessary. Auto trucks are fast replacing the 
horse-drawn wagons in the most progressive districts. Where 
they can be installed they solve the problem of the long haul. 

Administering Transportation. — Drivers can usually be 
secured by advertising for sealed bids on routes as laid out by 
the board. The lowest bidder is not always the one to be 
chosen, however. It is very important that drivers be 
mature, competent, and responsible. They should own and 
furnish good horses. The health, morals, and, indeed the 
lives of the children, are in their care while en route to and 
from school ; and no one should be employed who is not fit 
to trust with all these interests. Drivers should be con- 
tracted and bonded, and should be made responsible absolutely 
to the principal. Principals should insist upon being given 
authority over their drivers. Children must understand that 
drivers have disciplinary authority. Monthly salaries of 



Problems Peculiar to a Consolidated School 267 

fifty dollars or less have (prior to the advent of war prices) 
been found adequate to secure the services of good drivers 
furnishing their own teams. Women, especially mothers, 
sometimes make the most satisfactory drivers. Forms for 
drivers' contracts, bonds, schedules, and reports should be fur- 
nished by the State Superintendent or devised by the principal. 

Very careful attention should be given to mapping the routes 
for the drivers in order to accommodate a maximum number 
of children in each van, gather up the children with the 
least possible mileage, use the best roads with the least back 
tracking, and cause the least possible irritation to patrons. 
Mapping the routes and arranging the schedules is a problem 
which can be solved only by persons well acquainted with 
the roads and other local conditions. The board should help 
the principal with this work. Local conditions will determine 
the length of the drive. Six miles ought to be the maximum 
wagon ride for children farthest from the school, and this will 
usually prove practicable except in sparsely settled regions. 
The drivers' schedules should be made out with great care, 
and, once they are demonstrated to be practical, drivers 
should be held responsible for conformity thereto. The 
drivers should make daily reports to the principal. Drivers 
will find excuses for deviating from their schedules unless 
this is insisted upon. Dissatisfaction is sure to result if they 
are not regular. The wagon should therefore be as nearly on 
time as possible. To save back tracking children may walk 
reasonable distances to meet the van, at which stations shelters 
should be provided. Neighbors will often be willing to 
telephone the next house : " Wagon just left here." 

Where the private system is in use the principal's problem 
in administering it is largely one of tact in adjusting per- 



268 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

sonal relations. He must try to educate his patrons to the 
right notion of the pay they receive for carrying their chil- 
dren ; they should not look upon it as a strictly business prop- 
osition. Instead, they should be taught to appreciate the 
school privileges. On the other hand, the board should pay 
as liberally as possible. Pains should be taken to equalize 
payments to patrons for hauling their children on some basis 
that will be fair to all. Otherwise ill feelings will be sure to 
arise between neighbors. It will require tact and patience 
to induce neighbors to cooperate in the carrying of children. 
This necessary but voluntary cooperation is urged, however, 
as one of the benefits of the private system. The board 
should assist the principal, especially if he is new in the 
district, in planning all these arrangements, and especially in 
adjusting them when disagreements arise. If parents carry 
children, authority over them en route naturally inheres in 
the parents ; in cases where wagons are driven by older 
children parents may, where it seems desirable, be induced 
to delegate that authority to the principal, who may then 
hold the driver responsible. Except in districts where the 
school spirit is very strong there will be constant difficulty 
over tardiness and irregular attendance. A tactful, resource- 
ful principal may be able to overcome this in part by cul- 
tivating school spirit and by impressing upon parents and 
pupils the importance of punctuality and regularity. But 
success in all these matters will depend principally upon the 
personality of the principal and the spirit of his teachers. 

Janitor Service. — Janitor service is another puzzling 
problem. The solution is pay ! The principal had better set 
himself at once to the task of educating his board to an 
appreciation of the importance of this service to the health 



Problems Peculiar to a Consolidated School 269 

and ideals of the pupils as well as to the efficiency of the 
school. If they can be induced to read it he might furnish 
them literature on the technique of the janitor's art, to make 
them see that it is no schoolboy's job. Tell them what 
janitor services cost in town. In lieu of adequate service 
some schools have tried having a teacher do the janitor work ; 
others have made use of the student help ; others have per- 
mitted a bus driver to act also as janitor. None of these 
makeshifts is satisfactory. Schools that have adequate 
facilities for teaching agriculture can make use of a janitor 
and caretaker the year round, and such a person can be, in 
part at least, self-supporting. 

The Nooning. — The noon hour presents a rather com- 
plicated problem because children do not go home to dinner 
as they do in town. It is well to systematize the lunch. 
Children should be seated in regular order, and remain seated 
until all have finished eating. They should be served with 
some hot dish prepared in the school kitchen. There should 
be a teacher in charge of each room. After lunch some play 
or other activity should be engaged in, out of doors, if the 
weather permits. This should be supervised as suggested in 
Chapter XL There should be ample gymnasium facilities. 
Where there are not, calisthenics, victrola concerts, com- 
munity singing, or orchestra work help to relieve the situation. 
In the shortest winter days, especially in the extreme north, 
it may sometimes be advisable to begin school at nine-thirty, 
reducing the nooning to thirty minutes. In some schools the 
noon hour is shortened and the time given to athletic games 
after school. 

The Social Life of the Community. — The principal of a 
consolidated rural school should think of himself not only as 



270 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

an educator, but also as, in some sense, a social engineer. It is 
the rule for rural communities to be deplorably destitute of 
wholesome social life. This is usually due to the comparative 
isolation in which farmers live. It is often made worse by 
the mixture of nationalities in a given community — or, 
perhaps more accurately, to the refusal of different nationalities 
to mix. Social intercourse not only adds greatly to the joy 
of life, but there are very profound sociological reasons why 
it is indispensable. The difference between a neighborhood 
that has a good social life and one that lacks it is almost un- 
believable. It even registers itself in remarkable differences 
in land values. Now the consolidated school furnishes a 
natural center for the community social life ; indeed one of 
the reasons for consolidation is that it revolutionizes the 
social life of the community. Of this new community life 
the principal is, therefore, a sort of director. He must plan 
for getting the people together. In some neighborhoods the 
farmers have clubs which meet regularly once or twice a 
month, especially during the slack season. Everybody 
gathers, young and old. Children and young folks play 
games ; the older people visit. There is usually a speech or 
program of some sort ; and always something to eat. The 
gathering breaks up In time to get home and do the chores. 
Some farm neighborhoods devote Saturday afternoon to these 
festivities all through the summer. If it were not for our 
puritanical notions we might make the Sabbath worth a good 
deal more to man than we do. Bands, moonlight schools, 
literary societies, clubs for business purposes, lecture courses, 
parent-teacher associations, community singing, choir rehear- 
sals, religious services, and a great variety of other activities 
will suggest themselves to the versatile principal. In some 



Problems Peculiar to a Consolidated School 271 

districts the principal will be discouraged by the fact that 
some, perhaps many, of the adults will refuse to participate 
in these social activities. This is most liable to be the case in 
foreign settlements. In such a case the only thing to do is to 
organize the young people and let them go ahead without the 
old folks if the latter will not participate. 

The Course of Study. — Undoubtedly the most fundamental 
of all the administrative problems of the consolidated rural 
school is the course of study. The traditional town-made 
curriculum is out of date and out of place in a modern rural 
school. A veritable revolution is needed in aim, contents, 
method, and organization of rural education, and there is a 
wonderful opportunity for the young principal to break new 
ground. School subjects must be connected vitally with the 
interests and environments of farm children. For example, 
farm children in the rural schools of North Dakota figure out 
problems in grain dockage, they learn Foley's poems of local 
coloring, they dramatize Captain Marsh's trip up the Missouri 
to find Custer, they acquaint themselves with the weeds and 
useful plants of the region. This principle of correlation 
with the local interests, social, industrial, and natural, needs 
to be applied from top to bottom of the course of study. In 
the upper grades this will involve considerable industrial 
education adapted to the real needs of the young people 
growing up on the farms. But while this is being done the 
cultural, social, civic, and aesthetic phases of rural education 
must not be neglected. Local articulations should not go 
so far, however, as to annul the fundamental indentity of 
elementary curriculums everywhere. One great difficulty with 
high school work everywhere is that neither pupils nor teachers 
understand what it is all about. The rural principal who can 



272 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

minister this insight to his older pupils will perform a rare 
service. In the middle grades the curriculum problem is 
somewhat analagous. Articulation with normal interests, 
and projects embodying FroebePs social participation theory, 
must be no excuse for soft pedagogy, however. Quite the 
contrary; it is precisely by saving time through sharp, effi- 
cient drill on the fundamentals, and through abolishing the 
deadening repetition of subjects prematurely begun, that time 
is gained for activities that vitalize school life. Parents and 
patrons must be taught that children go to school for other 
reasons than to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 
the early grades, in fact all through the grades, there should 
be more Pestalozzian object teaching as a perceptive basis for 
articulating book work with real life. There must be con- 
struction work involving, in small children, not the accessory, 
but the fundamental muscles. There must be play, music, 
and social activities. In fact the problem of conceiving, 
planning, organizing, and administering a course of study 
really suitable to a rural consolidated school is a problem 
worthy the mettle of any educator, however wise, learned, or 
renowned. No young teacher need ask a greater opportunity, 
for rest assured the world will wear an automobile track to 
the district, however remote, where it is really being done. 



REFERENCES 

Betts, George E., and Hall, O. E. Better Rural Schools. 

A good, concrete, practical discussion of the whole rural school situa- 
tion. 
Carney, Mabel. Country Life and the Country School. 
A very stimulating piece of work. Contains an exhaustive (191 2) 
bibliography. 



Problems Peculiar to a Consolidated School 273 

Carver, Nixon T. Principles of Rural Economics. 

The best book available on this abstract but very important subject. 
Fogarty, W. S. Transportation of School Children, School Board 
Journal (Milwaukee), November, 1918. 
The practical experiences of an Ohio country superintendent. 
Gill, C. O., and Pinchot, Gifford. The Country Church. 

Valuable to a teacher interested in the religious phase of country life. 
Gillette, John M. Constructive Rural Sociology. 

One of the two best books on rural sociology. 
Gordon, Wm. (architect). The Consolidated High School, School Board 
Journal, March, 191 8. 
From the architect's standpoint, with cuts and drawings. 
Jackson, Henry E. A Community Center, Bureau of Education, Bulle- 
tin No. 11, 1918. 
What it is and how to organize it. 
Quick, H. L. The Brown Mouse. 
An interesting novel full of suggestions as to the function of the rural 
school, and the correlation of school subjects to farm interests. 
Every rural school principal should read this story. 
Stimson, R. W. Vocational Agricultural Education by Projects. 

A home-project plan for supervised produce in Agriculture. 
Vogt, Paul. Rural Sociology. 
One of the two best books on rural sociology. Emphasizes the im- 
portant distinction between small village and open country con- 
ditions. 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE PRINCIPAL'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER 

The Professional Training Needed. — In many states the 
law requires that a man or woman who holds such a position 
as that under discussion in this book must be a college grad- 
uate, and have had, as a part of such college experience, a 
minimum of courses in education. Exception is usually made, 
however, of smaller schools, so that the principals in many 
minor villages are not college graduates. The state law as 
a rule, however, slams the door of professional advancement 
in the face of untrained men. While this may seem hard in 
the case of principals who are making good at the bottom of 
the ladder, it must on the whole be recognized as a wise and 
just provision. If our schools are to be put on a professional 
basis, professional training must be required of those who 
administer them. 

These legal requirements may be taken to indicate the kind 
of preparation one ought to have for a village principalship. 
There should be at least a good college course. And by good 
is meant, first, that it should be taken at a good institution, 
and secondly, that it should be liberally elected. The prob- 
lems with which the educator has to deal touch life and society 
at so many points that a narrow course, devoted almost ex- 
clusively to some special interest, is not adequate. One's 
undergraduate education should introduce him to all of the 

274 



The Principal's Professional Career 275 

great major interests of mankind, such as science, industry, 
art, literature, history, music, social science, religion, and 
philosophy. The college course should also include some 
special study of education and the subjects closely related, 
such as psychology, sociology, history and theory of education, 
management and methods, and school administration. A 
year of graduate study, with education for the major interest, 
should be added after a year or two of experience. 

It is always desirable that the prospective principal have 
some training in a normal school. The colleges and univer- 
sities in their instruction in education as a rule lay the stress 
on secondary education. While this should not be neglected, 
the elementary point of view needs at least equal emphasis. 
There is no more common deficiency with young principals 
just out of college than their ignorance of and indifference to 
the problems of elementary education. This defect a year of 
normal school experience would correct. College men aiming 
toward educational work will do well to arrange for this 
experience, either by graduating from a normal school before 
going to college, or by a taking a year or at least a summer or 
two at a normal school during their college career, applying 
the credits on their college course. The elementary practice 
teaching under competent supervision will be found especially 
helpful. 

The Principal Whose Training Has Been Neglected. — 
What shall we say now of the man who finds himself in the 
principalship without such training? For such a man there 
are three alternatives : to leave the profession, to secure the 
required training, or to abandon all hope of professional 
advancement. A few words may be said with regard to the 
second and third. 



276 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

The completion of a belated college course is not so difficult 
as it may seem, if a person is industrious and determined. 
The opportunities now offered for correspondence work favor 
such an enterprise. So do the summer sessions of colleges 
and universities. Besides, by reading and studying at home 
one could go over the ground of certain subjects in advance, 
e.g. history, literature, or sociology, so that he could, while in 
residence, earn a large number of credits. Even if it requires 
a long term of years to reach the goal the effort would be worth 
the stakes. The writers have known of men receiving college 
degrees in this way at thirty-five or even forty years of age. 

This is a good opportunity to throw in a parenthetical word 
about vacations. Many a teacher's professional birthright 
has been sold for a mess of vacation pottage ! Vacations 
offer opportunities for study that are of the highest importance. 
They sometimes afford opportunities for forming new pro- 
fessional connections that may prove profitable. They give 
one a chance also for rest and change of scene, the value of 
which must not be discounted. One sees the world from an 
entirely different point of view after camping two weeks under 
the tall pines by a fishing lake, or after a few days spent among 
the haunts of his boyhood. Such experiences often amount to 
a spiritual renascence. A part of one's vacation devoted to 
physical work is also profitable for many reasons, not the 
least of which is that it keeps alive one's sympathies with 
people who earn their living that way. The vacation of a 
confirmed pedagogue is well used, nevertheless, if spent in some 
dignified work entirely foreign to teaching, i.e. writing in- 
surance, doing Chautauqua work, or acting as a clerk in a bank. 
But one is often penny wise and pound foolish to devote all his 
vacation to money making. The fundamental maxim for the 



The Principal's Professional Career 277 

use of vacations is to make them contribute to one's pro- 
fessional future, a maxim that is very easy to lose sight of. 

Glorifying a Humble Lot. — As for the third alternative, 
to abandon hope of professional promotion does not neces- 
sarily mean to abandon hope of a useful and satisfying pro- 
fessional career. Who of us does not recall, among the men 
whom we respect and admire most, some who have all their 
lives occupied small positions ? Such men glorify the common 
lot. We recommend to the principal who, because of handi- 
caps in training, sees no prospect of big things ahead, that he 
plan to stay in one place for a long term of years, and build 
himself into the life of the people, and that he collect a well- 
digested library of books and periodicals both general and 
professional, so as to be thoroughly professional and alive 
to the changing world, in spite of his handicaps. If the 
reader is unfamiliar with the standard professional periodicals 
he can derive suggestions from the lists of references in this 
book. These should perhaps be supplemented by something 
more local in character. But he must beware as he grows 
older lest seeing he may see and not perceive, and hearing he 
may hear and not understand. It is entirely easy for a man 
of forty, reading a new system of philosophy, to read into it 
the system he learned at twenty, and so find in the new system 
everything but the new point of view. Such a mind is the 
mind of a mossback; and a man without early training is 
extremely liable to it. The self-educated man is also liable 
to acquire crank notions and hobbies, especially if he has 
considerable originality. For such a library we recommend 
especially the literature of the country life movement ; nothing 
will go farther toward revealing to the village principal the 
possibilities of community leadership. And finally we rec- 



2jS Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

ommend that he own a home, as humble as need be, as good 
as may be, and a plot of ground — a farm if possible, and 
cultivate the Grayson type of contact with nature. If he is 
the right sort of soul, there will be no lack of uncovered heads 
at his funeral. 

Pitfalls to be Avoided. — But professional training is not 
a substitute for making good. In fact too much confidence 
in his professional training has been the undoing of many a 
young man. Conceit of any sort is a handicap hard indeed to 
overcome. One who is not temperamentally afflicted with 
that malady is likely to acquire it on account of being one of 
the most learned and important personalities in the little 
burg. Conceit not only makes him unpopular, but it also 
makes him lazy. He counts himself to have apprehended, 
and that puts an end to his growth. 

This may result also from his failure to see the opportunities 
and rewards of his profession. The young village principal 
should normally aspire to become superintendent of one of the 
greatest cities in the land. Whenever the county seat be- 
comes the goal of his ambition he begins at once to ossify. 
However, great ambition may be mere conceit. In that case 
it will generate a fatalistic confidence that kills sane pro- 
fessional endeavor. Another pitfall is to become swamped in 
the various social and other demands of the village life. The 
opposite extreme is to become bookish and to lose touch with 
folks. It takes a wise young man to know where the line 
should be drawn between too much and too little partici- 
pation in social matters ; and it takes steady purpose to 
hew to the line when it has been drawn. Occasionally a 
school man develops a grouch. His time is soon up. Another 
comes out of college ambitious to specialize as teacher of some 



The Principal* s Professional Career 279 

particular subject. This man is likely to forget that he is 
superintendent of schools, not teacher of history, and so 
miss his opportunity. And so the road to success is full of 
pitfalls too numerous to enumerate. It is well to study the 
mistakes of men who fail, in order to avoid them. There are 
ways, too, for one to find out what temperamental faults or 
acquired mannerisms one's friends realize that he himself 
has. If a young man knows them he ought to be able to cor- 
rect them. 

Some Little Requisites to Success. — But there are things to 
do as well as things to avoid. First, study the profession. 
Learn the details of the work. It is well for the young principal 
to diversify his set tasks. As we have recommended before, 
it is worth while for him to teach in the elementary grades. 
His ideal should be to do anything in the grades as well as 
his best grade teachers can do it. If he is clever he can make 
good teachers teach him without their knowing it. But he 
should study books as well as practice. He should study all 
around the subjects he has to teach. His library should grow 
from year to year by the addition of the best new books, and 
the best educational periodicals should come to his desk. 
But he must beware of the habit of hasty, superficial reading. 
Professional literature must not monopolize his reading, 
however. General reading is equally necessary; otherwise 
he will lose articulation with life. But above all he must 
study successful men, to discover if possible the secrets of 
their achievement. He must learn to apportion his time 
among the various interests of his work. In order to insure 
this it might be well for him to work out in black and white a 
list of interests to which he should devote his attention, 
indicating the proportion of his time that should normally be 



280 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

devoted to each, on the analogy of the score card, and then 
check himself up from time to time as to its observance. 
Otherwise he will become one-sided or else swamped in the 
multiplicity of things to do. He must learn to economize 
time, but without hurrying the wrong things. He must 
learn to sort his activities with reference to his goal. He needs, 
for instance, to learn the art of pleasing, effective public 
speech ; he needs association with active, successful men, and 
discussion with his intellectual peers. He needs also a certain 
amount of recreation. But he must not let any of these 
needs entice him into squandering time on trifles that have no 
bearing on his aims. The more regularly he can order his 
habits the better. The best kind of advertising is, first, to 
run a better school than your neighbors, and, secondly, to 
extend your acquaintance. Discreditable self -advertising 
will be increasingly discredited as the profession becomes 
more professionalized. 

Business Matters. — At this point a few words of advice 
about business matters may not be amiss. It goes almost 
without saying that the principal upon arrival in a new place 
should at once establish relations with a bank. Then he 
cannot be too careful about his credit. Nothing can under- 
mine a man's standing more quickly and surely than to acquire 
a reputation for being careless or unreliable about his accounts. 
As for the investment of his savings, let him beware of schemes 
that promise big returns and offer to let little fellows in on the 
ground floor. Large investors are in the market for safe 
investments, and whenever promoters turn to small investors, 
the small investor usually needs no surer evidence that he 
had better let the scheme alone. If shares are offered on the 
installment plan the scheme should be viewed with additional 



The Principal's Professional Career 281 

suspicion. Dean Kinley sums up his advice on this matter 
as follows : " In short, if you would seek a safe investment 
look for one that will give you ordinary returns, which is 
local in character, backed by security that cannot get away, 
and taken by the advice of your banker. The observance of 
these general rules will save many a heartache caused by the 
loss of hard-earned dollars." 

Growing a Personality. — A good deal is said and written 
about developing a personality. We think it unwise for the 
young principal to bother his head much about his personality. 
" It seems to be one of those virtues like humility, which 
dissolves and melts the moment it becomes self -conscious.' ' 
That is to say, personality is not something to the stature of 
which one can add a cubit by taking thought thereof, but by 
seeking first the kingdom of fundamentals, such as health, 
character, friends, family, manners, success, and ideals. For 
instance, the professional man who is ill mannered and of 
uncouth speech never will have personality. Middle aged 
men who are failures wear a certain hangdog expression, 
while successful men hold their heads up. The difference is 
personality. Therefore succeed, and ultimately your per- 
sonality will show a justifiable self-assurance. But true 
success is based on what may be called the attitude of the 
artist. The mere drudge is incapable of real consecration to 
his work. The difference is not in the work, however, but in 
what one is able to see in his labor. Only the insight of 
idealism can transfigure work. And this is perhaps the most 
important element of personality, unless we except character. 
Bad men, insincere men, reveal the fact that they are bad in 
mysterious ways ; a genuine, honest soul attracts attention 
also. The friendless person in the long run becomes unworthy 



282 Administration of Village and Consolidated Schools 

of friends; but the more friends one has the more his per- 
sonality must expand to take them in. And everybody recog- 
nizes the type of man or woman who has reared worthy sons 
and daughters. But it takes time to rear a family, to demon- 
strate oneself a master of his profession, to refine one's char- 
acter and ideals in the crucible of experience, and to acquire 
a long list of old friends. Personality, therefore is a thing 
that ripens, and it ill befits a stripling to affect it. But 
as William James wrote : " Let no youth have any anx- 
iety about the upshot of his education, whatever the line 
of it may be. If he keep faithfully busy each hour of the 
working day, he may safely leave the result to itself. He 
can with perfect certainty count on waking up some fine 
morning to find himself one of the competent ones of his 
generation, in whatever pursuit he may have singled out." 
And what he said of success is equally true of any of the other 
elements of personality. 

Prizes at the Top. — The incentive that is most effective 
in constraining a young man to pay the price of success is to 
perceive vividly the prizes at the top of the ladder. And those 
prizes are certainly numerous and attractive. Moreover, they 
are rapidly growing in number, and the demand for learned, 
matured, and successful men far exceeds the supply. 

Perhaps the top to which the village principal may most 
logically aspire is the superintendency of a city system. 
This is practically a new profession, and one for which the re- 
wards, pecuniary, social, and professional, are very attractive. 
Salaries in cities above 10,000 range from three to ten thou- 
sand dollars, according to the size of the city, and are rapidly 
increasing. The opportunities afforded to a man in such a 
position to direct public opinion, lead the development of a 



The Principal's Professional Career 283 

city, and mold the lives of men and women, are hardly equaled 
by those of any other profession. 

Another desirable line of advancement, and a line that will 
be increasingly attractive as the reorganizations described in 
Chapter III are realized, is county superintendency, with 
state superintendency as the ultimate goal. It will not be 
many years before the office of state superintendent will afford 
as great opportunities for educational statesmanship and lead- 
ership as the presidency of great universities has in the past. 

Besides these two avenues of promotion there is a third, 
namely, the teaching of educational administration in colleges 
and universities. And as the science of education receives 
more and more attention at centers of learning and recognition 
by the public school system, the tendency is increasing to 
elect professional educators as university presidents. Several 
recent instances could be enumerated. 

But the young man who aspires to these high places must 
equip himself, as a rule, with the advanced training represented 
by the Ph.D. degree. He must lay the foundation of success 
in small systems, a success that means thorough mastery of 
all the details of the business. He must also be willing to 
wait. Such positions are worth long years of patient, pains- 
taking preparation. A small position at thirty and a large 
and important superintendency at forty will be far above the 
average achievement. 

Women in the Profession. — In conclusion it may be added 
that all the signs of the times indicate women to be almost as 
likely aspirants to such positions as men. 

REFERENCE 

Cubberley, E. P. Public School Administration, Chapter X. 



INDEX 



Accounting, Scientific, 214 
Accounts, Financial, 211 
Accounts, Records and Reports, 193 
Activities, Various Special, 160 
Adenoids, 131 

Administering Criticism, 60 
Administering Transportation, 266 
Administration, 247 

Administration of Education in a Democ- 
racy : Hollister, H. A., 50 
Administration of Public Education in the 

United States: Dutton, S. T., and 

Snedden, D., 24, 50, 235. 
Administration, Public School : Cubberley, 

E. P., 235 
Administration, Some Problems in the 

City School : Strayer, George D., 236 
Administrative Principles, 26 
Administrative Relations, 59 
Adults, Educational Services for, 6 
Advertising, 280 
Advertising High School Opportunities : 

Edmondson, J. B., 235 
Age and Grade Distribution Tables, 82, 112 
Age-grade Tables, 228, 229, 230, 231 
Agriculture, A Laboratory Manual of : 

Call and Schafer, 181 
Agriculture, Department of, 154 
Aim Discipline, The, 258 
Allport Charts, 130 
Ambition, 278 
Americanization, 5, 6, 8, 17 
American Posture League, Inc., 30 Church 

St., New York City, 148 
American School Board Journal : Bruce, 

W. C, 47, 49, 181 
American Seating Company, 181 
Andrus and Church, Ithaca, N. Y., 178 
Angell, Emmett D. : Play, 149 
Annual Election of Teachers, 53 
Appreciation Lessons, 254 
Arbor and Bird Day, 155 



Architect, Employing a Competent and 

Honest, 135 
Architecture, American School Board 

Journal, 181 
Arithmetic Tests, 99 
Art and Manual Training Departments, 

154 
Artistic Resources, 12 
Assignment of Lessons, 86 
Assignments, 253 
Athenian Education, 114 
Athletic and Literary Society, 156 
Athletic Events, 157 
Athletic Sports, 169 
Attendance, 109, 251; Compulsory, 12; 

Irregular, 109; Rewarding, 109 
Attention, 253 

Attention to Individual Needs, 63 
Ayres, Leonard P. : Child Accounting in 

the Public Schools, 234; Laggards in 

Our Schools, 76, 92 ; The School Survey, 

234 
Ayres, Williams, and Wood, Healthful 

Schools, 191 
Ayres Handwriting Scale, 100, 10 1 
Ayres Spelling Scale, 96 

Bachman, Frank P. : Elementary School 

Administration, Problems of, 76, 92, 

122 
Bacteriology, 134 
Bagley, W. C. : Classroom Management, 

261 
Bailey, L. H., 72 
Baily, Pearl : Principles and Applications 

of Domestic Science, 1 81 
Baker, Professor, 219 
Baker, George H. : Financial Practices in 

Cities and Towns below Twenty-five 

Thousand, 235 
Bancroft, Jessie H. : Games for Playground, 

Home, School, and Gymnasium, 149 



285 



286 



Index 



Bancroft, Jessie H. : The Posture of School 
Children, 136 

Barnhard, E. W. : Student Finances, 165 

Basket Ball, Girls', 159 

Batavia System, 83, 85, 86 

Bawden, W. T. : The School Piper, 165 

Betts, George E., and Hall, O. E. : Better 
Rural Schools, 272 

Bigotry and Conceit, 70 

Biology in Secondary Schools, Teaching : 
Lloyd and Biglow, 181 

Bliss, Don C. : Methods and Standards 
for Local School Surveys, 235 

Bloomfield, Meyer: Readings in Voca- 
tional Guidance, 76 

Board, Duties of the, 44 

Boarding and Rooming Places, 244 

Boarding Place, The, 241 

Board Members, Good, 43 

Board Meeting, 47 

Board of Education, County, 33 

Bobbett, J. F., 122 

Bonser, F. G. : The Speyer School Cur- 
riculum, 122 

Books, Care of, 187 

Books, The Best, 135 

Boy and the School, The : Snively, Edward 
T, 236 

Boy Problem, The: Forbush, W. B., 
165 

Brewer, John W. : The Vocational Guid- 
ance Movement, 76 

Brooms, 180, 189 

Brown, J. F. : The American High School, 
76, 165 

Brown Mouse, The: L. H. Quick, 120, 
123, 273 

Bruce, W. C, 49 

Brushes, 180 

Budget, 45 

Budgetary Plan, 221 

Budgetary Standards, 222 

Budget Making, 219-223 

Building Codes, 170 

Building Standards, American School : 
Mills, W. T., 181 

Building, The New Type of, 169 

Buildings, Grade School : W. C. Bruce, 181 

Buildings, School: Ellis, A. C, and 
Kuehne, H., 181 



Bureau of Education, 6, 7, 18, 28 

Burk, 83 

Burnham, W. H. : Encyclopedia of Edu- 
cation, 137 

Business, Transacting, 47 

Business Enterprise, A, 206 

Business Manager's Point of View, 206 

Business Matters, 280 

Business Methods and Standards in Edu- 
cation : Orr, Wm., 235 

Business Side, Professionalizing the, 206 

Butte, Montana : Report of a Survey of 
the School System, 235 

Calisthenic Exercises, 147 

Calisthenics, 252, 269 

Call and Schafer: Laboratory Manual of 

Agriculture, 181 
Candidate, The Employer's Estimate of 

the, 53 
Card History of Pupils, 84 
Carnegie Foundation, 19 
Carney, Mabel : Country Life and the 

Country School, 272 
"Carriers," 132 
Carver, Nixon T. : Principles of Rural 

Economics, 273 
Cataloguing Library, 177 
Census Card, Superintendent's, 197 
Census Data, Recording, 198 
Chancellor, W. E. : Our Schools, 50 
Character Formation, 65 
Charters, W. W. : Teaching the Common 

Branches, 261 
Chickenpox, 133 
Child Accounting in the Public Schools: 

Ayres, Leonard P., 234 
Choruses and Orchestras, 154 
Church, The Country : Gill, C. O., and 

Pinchot, Gifford, 273 
Citizenship, 3 

Citizenship, Preparation for, 113 
City School Supervision: Elliott, E. C, 50 
City Superintendent and the Board of 

Education, The : Thiesen, W. W., 50 
Civic Aims, 4 

Civics, Teaching of Community, 4, 5 
Civic Welfare, 125 
Class Adviser, 156 
Class Assessments, 163 



Index 



287 



Class Book, 201 

Class Instruction, 248 

Class Instruction on the Violin, 80 

Class Method, 79, 80 

Classroom Management, 248, 261 

Classroom Organization and Control : 

J. B. Sears, 261 
Classroom Weight Record, 206 
Class System, Graded, 85 
Clean, Keeping the Schoolhouse, 186 
Clean-up Day, 155 
Clerk, School Board, 87 
Clerk of Board, Principal as, 213 
Cleveland Survey, 99, 225, 234 
Clinics, 126 
Colonial Times, 22 
Commencement Programs, 229 
Commercial Subjects, 87 
Commissioner of Education, 28 
Common Branches, The Psychology of 

the : Freeman, Frank N., 261 
Common Sense, 41 
Community Center, A: Jackson, Henry 

E., 273 
Community, Enriching the Life of the, n ; 

Social Life of the, 269 ; The Needs of 

the, 73 ; Center, 164 ; Civics, Teaching, 

5 ; Picnic, 155 ; Singing, 269 ; Social 

Life, 270 
Conceit, 278 
Consolidated High School, The : Gordon, 

Wm., 181, 273 
Consolidated School Movement, 5 
Consolidated Schools, 29 
Consolidated Schools, Problems of, 262 
Contagious Diseases, 132 
Contagious Diseases, Symptoms of, 130 
Contests in Declamation, 156 
Conversation and Free Movement, 120 
Cooperation of Institutions, 163 
Cooperative Enterprises, 140 
Cornell University, 76 
Corporal Punishment, 260 
Corrective Measures, 259 
Correspondence Course, 55 
Correspondence Work, 276 
Cost of High School Instruction — per 

Pupil-hour, 228 
Cost of High School Instruction : Wilcox, 

George M., 237 



Cost of Instruction in the High Schools of 

West Virginia : Wheat, Harry G., 236 
Cost per Pupil-year, 213 
Costs and Accounting : Hutchinson, J. H., 

235 _ 
Council of National Defense Bulletin, 7 
Country Life and Ideals of Democracy, 

262 
Country Life and the Country School : 

Carney, Mabel, 272 
Country Life Movement, 73, 263 
Country Life Work, The Survey Idea, 75 
County and the Schools, The, 21 
County Board of Education, 33 
County Government in New England, The, 

21 
County Superintendency, 21, 283 
County Unit, 32 
Course of Study, 5, 271 
Course of Study, Drafting the New, 117 
Course of Study, Tampering with the, 116 
Course of Study and Manual for Teachers, 

Minnesota : Geldermeister, Freda, 123 
Courtis Arithmetic Tests, 99 
Courtis, S. A., 82 Eliot Street, Detroit, 

Mich., 99 
Creating Sentiment, in 
"Creative Attitude," 61 
Criticism of Teachers, 60 
Criticizing Teachers, 59 
Criticizing the School, 113 
Cubberley, E. P., 23, 171 
Cubberley, E. P. : Public School Adminis- 
tration, 50, 92, 122, 235, 283 
Curriculum, 9, 112 

Curriculum, New Age Needs New, 114 
Curriculum, The: Bobbett, J. F., 122 
Curriculum, The Problem of the, 116 
Curriculum, The Speyer School : Bonser, 

F. G., 122 
Curtis, Henry : Education through Play, 

149 
Curtis, H. S. : Play and Recreation, 137 
Curvature of the Spine, 131 

Daily Programs, The, 250 

Daily Work, Plan for, 118 

Dancing, 161 

Debating, 151, 154 

Defective Hearing and Vision, 131, 252 



288 



Index 



Delinquency, 258 

Delinquent Attendance, 251 

Demand for Men, 282 

Democracy, 9, 10, 12 

Democracy, Education in a, 25 

Democracy, Ideals of, 25, 262 

Democratic Education, 27 

Dental Inspection, 128 

Department, School, 259 

Departmental Teaching, 121 

Desks, 252 

Detention Blank, 192 

Devices, 257 

Devices, Corrective, 259 

Dewey, John, 119 

Dewey, John and Evelyn : Schools of 
To-morrow, 122, 165 

Dewey System, 177 

Diagnostic Value of Efficiency Tests, 105 

Diphtheria, 133 

Discipline, 135, 258 

Discipline of the School, The : Morehouse, 
Frances M., 76 

Discipline, School : Young, W. H., 261 

Diseases, Symptoms of Common, 129 

Domestic Science, 113 

Domestic Science, Principles and Applica- 
tions of : Baily, Pearl, 181 

Douglas, A. A. : The Junior High School, 
123 

Dramatic Work, 154 

Dresslar, F. B. : American School Houses, 
181 ; Rural School Houses and Grounds, 
181 ; School Hygiene, 137, 181, 182 

Drill Lessons, 254 

Drill Material, 256 

Drills, 147 

Drinking Fountains, 175 

Drivers, 266 

Drivers' Schedules, 267 

Dust, 188 

Duties of the School Board, 45 

Dutton, S. T., and Snedden, D. S. : Ad- 
ministration of Public Education in the 
United States, 24, 50, 235 

Earhart, Lida B. : Types of Teaching, 261 
Edmondson, J. B. : Advertising High 

School Opportunities, 235 
Education, Athenian, 114 



Education, Cyclopedia of : Paul Monroe, 

24 
Education, Function of, 13 
Education in a Democracy, 25 
Education in Full Arts, 113 
Education, The Reorganization of, 25 
Education through Play : Curtis, Henry, 

149 
Education through Recreation : Johnson, 

G. E., 149 
Educational Administration, 283 
Educational Magazines, 179 
Educational Measurement, 94 
Educational Periodicals, 279 
Educational Red Book, The: Williams, 

C. F., & Sons, 181 
Educational Service for Adults, 6 
Educational Sociology, An Introduction 

to : Smith, W. R., 14 
Educational Surveys, 229 
Election of Proper Persons, 42 
Electives Limited, 121 
Elementary School Education, Problems 

of: Bachman, Frank P., 76 
Elementary School Practice, Modern : 

Freeland, G. E., 261 
Elimination, 82 
Ehmination because of a Poor Curriculum, 

112 
Elliott, E. C. : City School Supervision, 50 
Ellis, A. C, and Kuehne, H. : School Build- 
ings, 181 
Employer's Estimate of the Candidate, 53 
Encyclopedia, 177 
Enforcing the Law, 1 10 
English Great Public Schools, 153 
Enriching the Life of the Community, n 
Environment, Bad, 66 
Environment and Heredity, 64 
Equipment, 172 
Equipment, American School Board 

Journal, 181 
Equipment, Care of, 187 
Equipment for Other Grades, 174 
Equipment, Providing New, 242 
Essays, 156 
Evening Schools, 7 
Examination Questions, 256 
Examinations, 88, 89 
Exercises, General, 160 



Index 



289 



Exhibits, 158 

Expenditures, 45 

Experiments, Interesting and Satisfac- 
tory, 173 

Extra-Curriculum Activities, 226 

Extra-Curriculum Activities in the High 
Schools: Harwood, Hazel M., 165 

Extra-Curriculum Activities, Supervision 
of : Wilds, E. H., 166 

Eye Troubles, 133 

Faculty Meeting, 56 

Fads, 116 

Family Conditions, 74 

Farmer, The Retired, 43 

Farming, Better, 263 

Faultfinding, 243 

Federal Government and the Schools, The, 

IS 
Federal Government, Influence of the, 28 
Filing Cabinet, 179 
Financial Measurements, 219 
Financial Practices in Cities and Towns 

below Twenty-five Thousand : Baker, 

George M., 235 
Financial Record, Clerk's, 216 
Financial Records, 221-223; Classifica- 
tions of, 223 ; Scientific uses of, 212 
Fire Drills, 190 
First Day, The, 241, 246 
Flat Foot, 131 

Flexner, Abraham : A Modern School, 123 
Floors, Care of the, 188 
Fogarty, W. S. : Transportation of School 

Children, 273 
Forbush, W. B. : The Boy Problem, 165 
Foreign Languages, 6 
Foundation, Carnegie, 19 
Foundation, Rockefeller, 19 ; Russell Sage, 

19, 76, 100 
Foundations, Philanthropic, 19 
Fred Medart Manufacturing Co., St. 

Louis, Mo., 149 
Freeland, G. E. : Modern Elementary 

School Practices, 261 
Freeman, Frank N . : The Psychology of 

the Common Branches, 261 
Free Movement and Conversation, 120 
Freudian Standpoint, The, 135 
Froebel's Theories, 119, 152 



Function of Education, 13 
Furnace, Hot Air, 183 
Furniture, American School Board Journal, 
181 

Galpin, C. J., Professor of Rural Society 

in the University of Wisconsin, 75 
Galpin, C. J. : Social Survey of a Rural 

Community, The Method of Making, 76 
Games, Competitive, 141 
Games, Conducting Children's, 144 
Games for Playground, Home, School, and 

Gymnasium : Bancroft, Jessie H., 149 
Gardening and Soil Experiments, 169 
Garland, Hamlin, n 
Geldermeister, Freda : Minnesota Course 

of Study and Manual for Teachers, 123 
General Education Board, 19 
German Teachers, 255 
Getting a Good Start, 249 
Getting Teachers to Mark Alike, 90 
Gill, C. O., and Pinchot, Gifford : The 

County Church, 273 
Gillette, John M. : Constructive Rural 

Sociology, 273 
Girls, Adolescent, 141 
Glorifying a Humble Lot, 277 
Golden Rule, Practice of the, 41 
Good Roads Day, 155 
Gordon, Wm. : The Consolidated High 

School, 181, 273 
Go-somewhere-to-night Bacillus, The, 164 
Gowin and Wheatley : Occupation, 76 
Graded Class System, 85 
Grade Marks, 84 
Grades and Marks, 258 
Grades and Tests, 88 
Grades in Letters, 89 
Grading System, The, 79, 81 
Graduate Study, 275 
Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts, 

224 
Gray, Wm. S., 108 
Grouch, Developing a, 278 
Group Activities, 119 
Group Enterprises, 153 
Group Play, 140 
Group Solidarity, 107 
Gymnasium, 142 
Gymnastic Drills, 146 



290 



Index 



Habit, Law of, 249 
Haggerty, Professor, 106 
Hall, Dr. G. Stanley, 138, 139 
Handwriting, Improving, 232 
Handwriting Scale, Freeman, 100 
Handwriting Scales, Ayres, 101 
Handwriting Tests, 100 
Harwood, Hazel M. : Extra Curriculum 

Activities in the High School, 165 
Health Conditions, 232 
Healthful Schools, 136 
Healthful Schools : Ayres, Williams, and 

Wood, 191 
Health Inspection, Daily, 146 
Health, Mental, 252 
Health of the School Child, 124 
Health Preservation, 134 
Health Record, 207 
Health, State Educational Department of, 

126 
Health Surveys, 124, 125 
Health Work in Schools, 124, 125, 132, 

136 
Health Work in the Schools : Hoag, 

Dr. E. B., and Terman, L. M., 76, 137, 

188 
Health Work, Organization of, 126 
Hearing and Vision, Defective, 252 
Heating, 183 
Herbart, 115 

Heredity and Environment, 64 
Hetherington, Clark W. : Play School, The 

Demonstration, 149 
High School Administration: Hollister, 

H. A., 165 
High School, An Interesting Village : 

J. R. Law, 181 
High School and Class Management, 154, 

165 
High School Enrollment Card, 200 
High School Marks and Costs in New 

Hampshire and Vermont : McConaughy, 

J- L., 235 
High School, The American : Brown, J. F., 

76 ; 165 
Hoag, Dr., 125 
Hoag and Terman : Health Work in the 

Schools, 76, 132, 137, 188 
Hollister, H. A. : Administration of Edu- 
cation in a Democracy, The, 50 



Hollister, H. A. : High School and Class- 
room Management, 165 

Hollister, Professor, 154, 155 

Home Conditions, Responsibility for, 133 

Home Nursing, 134 

Homes, Better, 263 

Homes, Sanitary Surveys of, 134 

Hospitals, 126 

Hot Lunch, The, 269 

Housekeeping, Hygienic, 183 

Humidity, 184 

Hutchinson, J. H. : School Costs and 
Accounting, 235 

Hygiene, Mental, 135 

Hygiene of the School Child, The : Terman, 
Lewis M., 129, 137 

Hygiene, Personal, 138 

Hygiene, School, 252 

Hygiene, Teaching of, 133 

Idealism, 281 

Immunities, 257 

Incentives, 257, 282 

Increased Federal and State Aid, 28 

Individual Instruction, 85, 86, 87 

Individualization of Teaching, 31 

Individual Needs of His Pupils, 63 

Individual Tasks, 140 

Individual Teaching, 86 

Industrial Courses, 87 

Industrial Education, 8 

Industrial Training, 113 

Inglis, Alexander : Principles of Secondary 

Education, 123 
Initiative, 61 
Insincere Teacher, 66 
Inspection, 32 
Inspection, Dental, 128 
Instruction, 253 
Instruction, Incidental, 85 
Instructions to Teachers, 61 
Instrumental Music, 80 
Interest, 259 
Intergroup Games, 159 
Intergroup Rivalry, 107 
Interschool Meets, 159 
Irate Parent, The, 69 
Irregular Attendance, 109 
Irregularity, no 
Itch, 133 



Index 



291 



Jackson, Henry E. A. : A Community 
Center, 273 

Janitorial Equipment, 180 

Janitor, The, 190 

Janitors, Selection and Supervision of: 
Richardson, Robert E., 191 

Janitor Service, 268 

Johnson, G. E. : Education through Recre- 
ation, 149 

Joint Commissioner's Bill, 29 

Judd, Charles H. : Recent Articles and 
Books on the Junior High School, 123 

Judging Others, 66 

Junior High School, Recent Articles and 
Books on : Judd, Charles H., 123 

Junior High School, The, 120 

Junior High School, The : Douglas, A. A., 
123 

Kant, 9 

Kingsley, C. L. : Cardinal Principles of 
Secondary Education, 123 

Knowledge Lessons, 254 

Kuehne, H., and Ellis, A. C. : School Build- 
ings, 181 

Laboratories, 175 

Laboratory Courses, 87 

Laggards, 85 

Laggards in our Schools : Ayres, Leonard 
P., 76, 92 

La Grippe, 133 

Land Grants, 16 

La Salle, 80 

Law, J. R. : Interesting Village High 
School, 181 

Lay, Wilfred : The Unconscious Conflict, 
i37 

Ledgers, 215 

Leyland, A. and L. H. : Playground Con- 
struction and Apparatus, 149 

Lessons, Types of, 254 

Lighting, 186 

Lincoln, Abraham, 41 

Literary Events, 157 

Literature, n 

Lloyd and Biglow : Teaching Biology in 
Secondary Schools, 181 

Local Advisory Board, The, 34 

"Lock-Step System, The," 79, 81, 83 



McConaughy, J. L. : High School Marks 

and Costs in New Hampshire and 

Vermont, 235 
McCurdy, J. T. : The American Physical 

Education Review, 137 
Magazines and Books, 177 
Magazine Binder, 177 
Maintenance and Operation Expense per 

Pupil per Year, 225 
Making Good, 278 
Malnutrition, 131 
Management, Rural School: Wilkinson, 

W. A., 261 
Management of the Board, The, 42 
Mandolin Clubs, 160 
Manner, 254 

Manual Training, 113, 120, 141 
Map Drawing, 156 
Marks and Grades, 258 
Material Aid, 15 
Material Equipment, 169, 242 
Measles, 133 

Measuring Mental Results, 89 
"Median Score," 98 
Medical Examination, 64 
Medical Inspection, 84, 127, 128, 136 
Medical Profession, Socialization of the, 

125 
Meetings, Teachers', 244 
Memorial Day, 155 
Meningitis, 133 

Mental Efficiency of Adult Persons, 135 
Mental Initiative, 58 
Mental Results, Measuring, 89 
Methods of Teaching in the High School : 

Parker, S. C, 261 
Military Drill, 144 
Military Training Commission, 146 
Modern School, A.: Flexner, Abraham, 

123 
Monitors, 249 
Monroe, Paul: Cyclopedia of Education, 

24 
Monroe's Standardized Silent Reading 

Tests, 100, 102, 103 
Monthly Plans, 119 
Monthly Report Blanks, 67 
Moore, John C, Corporation, 215 
Moral Control, 139 
Moral Training, 113 



292 



Index 



Morehouse, Frances M. : Discipline of the 

School, 76 
Morrell Act of 1862, 16 
Motivating High School Work, The 

Special Problem of, 156 
Motivation, 119, 153, 256 
Motivation, The Necessity for, 151 
Motivation for Teaching Language, 161 
Motivation of Drill Work, 108 
Motivation of School Work : Wilson, H. B. 

and G. M., 93 
Motor Expression, 124, 152 
Movements of Children, 190 
Moving Picture Machine, 175 
Mumps, 133 
Muscular Control, 139 
Music, 11, 80, 160, 272 
Musical Organizations, Voluntary, 160 

Narragansett Machine Co., Providence, 
R. L, 149 

National Defense Bulletin, Council of, 7 

National Education Association, 19 

National Education Association Commit- 
tee : Final Report on Uniform Records 
and Reports, 235 

Need for Professional Experts, The, 27 

Needs of the Community, 73 

Nervousness, 132 

New Age Needs a New Curriculum, A, 114 

New England, The County Government 
in, 21 

New Material, 242 

New Subjects, 115 

Nooning, The, 269 

Nurse, County, 128 

Nurse, School, 127 

Nurse, Well- trained, 126 

Occupation, 65 

Occupation: Gowin and Wheatley (Ginn 

and Co.), 65, 76 
One-Room Rural Schools, 262 
"Open House" for School Community, 154 
Oppenheim Formula, 131 
Opportunities, Advertising High School: 

J. B. Edmondson, 235 
Opportunities Afforded, 282 
Opportunity, The Young Educator's, 116 
Orchestra, 151 



Orderliness, 249 

Organization, 119 

Organization and Control, Classroom : 
Sears, J. B., 261 

Orr, Wm. : Business Methods and Stand- 
ards in Education, 235 

Outline for a Social Survey, 74 

Paper Towels, 189 
Parents, Acquaintance with the, 67 
Parents, Pupils, and Public, 63 
Parents, Reporting Progress to, 201 
Parents to Visit Schools, Inducing the, 

68 
Parent-Teachers' League, 68 
Parker, S. C. : Methods of Teaching in 

the High School, 261 
Participating in the World's Work, 9 
Part-time Plan in the Centralia High 

School : Tubbs, E. V., 14 
Passing of Lines, 248 
Patriotic Education, 7 
Patriotic Instruction, 6 
Peculiarities of Children, 252 
Pencil Sharpeners, 249 
Permanent Record Card, 204 
Perry, A. C. : Wider Use of the School 

Plant, 150 
Personal Attention, 65 
Personal Hygiene, 136 
Personality, Growing a, 281 
Personality, Importance of, 66 
Personal Relations, The Knack of, 39 
Personal Relations between the Principal 

and His Teachers, 58 
Pestalozzian Object Teaching, 272 
Philanthropic Foundations, 19 
Physical Activity, 138 
Physical Defects, The Extent of, 124 
Physical Development, 139 
Physical Education, 113, 124 
Physical Education, Theory and Practice 

of : Roth, Emil, 150 
Physical Education Review, The Ameri- 
can : McCurdy, J. T., 137 
Physical Exercises, Daily, 139 
Physical Training, A Renascence of, 138 
Physical Training and Games, Hand Book 

of Graded Lessons in : Stecher, William 

A., 150 



Index 



293 



Physical Training in Elementary and 
Secondary Schools of New York State, 
146 

Physical Well-being, The New Attitude 
toward, 124 

Piano, 175 

Pitfalls to Be Avoided, 278 

Planning, School : Robson, P. A., 181 

Plant, Care of the, 136 

Plattsburg Training Camp, 147 

Play, 138, 259, 272 

Play : Angell, Emmett D., 149 

Play, Supervision of, 143, 145 

Play, The New Philosophy of, 138 

Play, Value of, 140 

Play and Recreation : H. S. Curtis, 137 

Playground, 138 ; The Reorganized : Cur- 
tis, Henry S., 149 ; Unsupervised, 142 ; 
Activities, 139 

Playground and Recreation Association 
of America, The, 150 

Playground Book, The : Sperling, Harry, 
150 

Playground Construction and Apparatus : 
Leland, A. and L. H., 149 

Playground Equipment, 140 

Playground Supervision, 142, 144 

Playgrounds, Cluttered-up, 142 

Play School, The Demonstration : Hether- 
ington, Clark W., 149 

Policy, Principal Arguing His, 212 

Policy, The Principal's, 48 

Policy Building, 48 

Policy of the School, General, 44 

Popular Control of Schools, 27 

Popular Participation, 34, 35 

Portland, Oregon : Report on Survey of 
the Public School System, 235 

Posture, Good, 252 

Posture of the School Child, The: Ban- 
croft, Jessie H., 136 

Pound, Olivia : The Need of a Construc- 
tive Social Program for the High School, 

165 _ 
Pre-Military Training in the Schools of 

New York State, 145 
Prenatal Influence, 64 
Preparation for Citizenship, 113 
Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 

76 



Presidency of University, 283 

Prevocational Training, 121 

Primary Room, 172, 174 

Principal and His Teachers, The, 51 ; and 
His Teachers, Personal Relations be- 
tween the, 58 ; as Clerk of the Board, 
213 ; Should Protect His Teachers, 59 

Principal's Annual Report, 224; Official 
Superiority, 58; Office, 178; Professional 
Career, 274 

Principal's Responsibility, The, 182 

Principal Whose Training Has Been 
Neglected, The, 275 

Principles of Secondary Education : Inglis, 
Alexander, 123 

Prizes at the Top, 282 

Problem-solving Disposition, 61 

Problems of the Curriculum, 116 

Problems Peculiar to a Consolidated 
School, 262 

Professional Career, The Principal's, 274 

Professional Ethics, 59 

Professional Inspiration, 61 

Professionalizing the Business Side, 206 

Professional Periodicals, 277 

Professional Reading, Systematic, 55 

Professional Training, 278 

Program, Commencement, 229 

Program Construction, 135, 250 

Programs, Christmas and Easter, 164 

Progress Records, 201 

Progress Reports, 119 

Projects, 272 

Projects, Vocational Agricultural Work by : 
Stimson, R. W., 273 

Promotion, Professional, 277 

Promotion, Semi-annual, 83 

Promotion by Subjects, 121 

Proper Publicity, 71 

Prospective Principal, The, 275 

Providing New Equipment, 241 

Psychic Normality, 135 

Psychological and Medical Clinics, 64 

Psychological Clinic, 64, 84 

Psychology of the Common Branches, The : 
Freeman, Frank N., 261 

Public Addresses, 71 

Public Documents, American School 
Houses, 181 

Public Entertainment, 154 



294 



Index 



Public Opinion, 69, 224; Creation of, 71; 

The Making of, 71 : The Value of, 70 
Public, Pupils and Parent, 63 
Public School Administration, 23 
Public School Administration : Cubberley, 

E. P., 50, 122 
Public Speech, Effective, 280 
Punishment, Good, 259 
Punishment, Undesirable, 259 
Pupils, Parents and Public, 63 
Pupils' Marks, 88 
Pupil's Savings Account, 176 

Qualification for a Good School Board, 44 
Qualifications for Rural Teaching, 263 
Questions, 253 
Quick, H. L. : The Brown Mouse, 123, 273 

Radical Reforms, in 

Rationalized Adjustment, 115 

Reading, General, 279 

Reading, Superficial, 279 

Reading Circle, Teachers', 55 

Reading Tests, 100 

Reading Tests, Monroe's Standardized 
Silent, 100, 102 

Recess Periods, 141 

Recitals, 154 

Recitation Methods, 135 

Recitation Period, Length of, 250 

Reconstruction Measures, 8 

Reconstruction Period, 14 

Record, Admission, Discharge, and Pro- 
motion, 199 

Record, Promotion, 199 

Record Card, Permanent, 204 

Record Classroom Weight, The, 206 

Record Employment, 198 

Recording Census Data, 198 

Record of Advice to Parents, 208 

Records, Accounts and Reports, 193; 
Attendance, 196 ; Classification of In- 
structional, 195 ; Instructional, 195 ; 
Standardization of School, 194; Uses 
of, 193 

Records and Reports, Uniform, 194 

Records and Reports, Uniform : National 
Education Association, 235 

Recreation, 74, 156, 280 

Recreation, Supervised, 146 



Recreation for the Village, Wholesome, 164 

Reference Library, 177 

References, 52 

Registers, Teachers', 202 

Registers, Warrant, 215, 218 

Registration Card, 192 

Regular Attendance, Inducing, 109 

Regulations, 244 

Remodeling the Old Building, 171 

Reorganization of Education, The, 25 

Reorganization of the State Department, 29 

Repairs, 171, 242 

Repairs, Minor, 191 

Reports, Records, and Accounts, 193 

Report, Principal's Annual, 224 

Reporting Progress to Parents, 201 

Reports and Efficiency, School : Snedden, 

David, and Allen, W. H., 236 
Resource, Making the Best of Meager, 127 
Resources, Artistic, 12 
Responsibility for Home Conditions, 133 
Retardation, 82, 109, 112 
Retired Farmer, The, 43 
Reviews, 256 
Richardson, Robert E. : Selection and 

Supervision of Janitors, 191 
Rivalries Created between Schools by 

Tests, 107 
Rivalry, Intergroup, 107 
Roads, Better, 263 
Robbins, Charles L. : School as a Social 

Institution, The, 14 
Rockefeller Foundation, 19 
Roth, Emil : Theory and Practice of 

Physical Education, 150 
Rousseau, 9 

Routes, Mapping the, 267 
Rural Community, Method of Making a 

Social Survey of a, 75 
Rural Economics, Principles of : Carver, 

Nixon T., 273 
Rural School Houses and Grounds : Dress- 

lar, F. B., 181; Management: Wilkin- 
son, W. A., 261 
Rural Schools, Better : Betts, George E., 

and Hall, O. E., 272 ; One-room, 262 
Rural Sociology, 264 
Rural Sociology: Gillette, John M., 273 
Rural Teaching, Qualifications for, 263 
Russell Sage Foundation, 19 



Index 



295 



Salt Lake City : Report on Survey of the 
School System, 263 

Sand Boxes, 141 

Scale for Grading Neighborhood Condi- 
tions : Williams, J. Howard, 76 

Scarlet Fever, 133 

School Accounting, 211 

School Accounting, Blanks for, 214 

School Administration, Problems of Ele- 
mentary : Bachman, Frank P., 92, 122 

School Administration, Public, 23 

School Administration, Public : Cubber- 
ley, E. P., 92 

School Administration, State and County, 
2 3 

School, A Modern : Flexner, Abraham, 123 

School Architecture, 170 

School as a Social Institution, The : Rob- 
bins, Charles L., 14 

School Board, The Duties of the, 45 

School Building, Construction of a, 170 

School Building Standards, American : 
Mills, W. T., 181 

School Bulletin and the Community : 
Tolbert, Gertrude, 236 

School Child, Health of the, 1 24 

School Child, The Hygiene of the, 136 

School Children, The Posture of the, 136 

School Discipline : Young, W. H., 261 

School District, The, 22 

School Employment Agency, 161 

School Feeding, 124 

School Feeding : Louise S. Bryant, 136 

Schoolhouse, The New, 134 

Schoolhouse and Housekeeping, The, 134, 
182 

Schoolhouse Clean, Keeping the, 186 

School Houses, American : Dresslar, 
F. B., 181 

School Houses, Modern : Hamlin, Snyder, 
and others, 181 

School Hygiene, 253 ; Hygiene : Dresslar, 
F. B., 137, 181; Nurse, 127; Organiza- 
tion and Administration, 171; Paper, 
160; Paper, The: Bowden, W. F., 165; 
Planning: Rob son, P. A., 181 

School Plant, The New, 169; Wider Use of 
the, 169 

School Program, Self- Activity in the, 124 

School Projects, 158 



School Records, 195 
School Records, Purpose of the, 193 
Schoolroom Activities, 248 
School Savings Banks : Bureau of Educa- 
tion, United States, 165 
Schools, One-room, 262 
Schools, Our : Chancellor, W. E., 50 
Schools of To-morrow, 1 2 
Schools of To-morrow : Dewey, John and 

Evelyn, 122, 165 
School Subjects, 271 
School Survey, The: Ayres, Leonard P., 

234 
Scientific Accounting, 214 
Scientific Management, The Application 

cf Principles of : Spalding, F. E., 236 
Scientific Measurements, 94 
Scientific Movement, 115 
Score Card, 53 

Scoring Teacher's Efficiency, 209 
Sears, J. B. : Classroom Organization and 

Control, 261 
Seats, 252 
Secondary Education, Cardinal Principles 

of: Kingsley, C. L., 123 
Secondary Education, Principles of : Inglis, 

Alexander, 123 
Secondary Education, Universal, 263 
Selection of Teachers, The, 5 
Self- activity, 152 
Self- advertising, 280 
Self-assurance, 281 
Self-educated Man, The, 277 ' 
Self-government, 4 
Self-realization, 9 
Self-reliance, 58 
Semiannual promotions, 83 
Setting-up Drills, 146 
Skating Rink, 142 
Slides, 141 
Smallpox, 133 
Smith, Hoke, 17 
Smith, W. R. : Educational Sociology, An 

Introduction to, 14 
Smith-Hughes Act, 16, 29, 115 
Smith-Lever Act, 16 
Snedden, David, and Allen, W. H. : School 

Reports and School Efficiency, 236 
Snedden, David : Vocational Education 

after the War, 14 



296 



Index 



Snellen Cards, 129 

Snively, Edward T.; The Boy and the 

School, 236 
Social Activities, 272; Efficiency, 9, 140; 

Engineer, 270; Events, 158; Gather- 
ings, 154 ; Intercourse, 270 
Socialization of the Medical Profession, 

125 
Socializing the School Program : Wilson, 

H. B., 166 
Social Life of the Community, 269 
Social Participation, 140, 152, 153 
Social Participation Type of Class Organi- 
zation, 121 
Social Program for the High School, The 

Need of a Constructive : Pound, Olivia, 

165 
Social Survey, 72 
Social Survey, Outline for a, 74 
Social Survey of the Rural Community, 

The Method of Making a : Galpin, 

C J., 76 
Sociology, Introduction to the Study of, 126 
Sociology, Rural, 264 
Spalding, F. E. : The Application of the 

Principles of Scientific Management, 236 
Spalding and Brothers, A. G., Chicopee, 

Mass., 149 
Spartan Education, 114 
Spelling Tests, 96 
Sperling, Harry : The Playground Book, 

150 
Sports, 63 
Standardization, 30 
Standard Tests, 84, 91 
Standard Tests, Introducing the, 94 
Start, Getting a Good, 241 
State Aid, 19, 31 
State and County School Administration, 

23 
State Control, 20 

State Department, Blanks from, 214 
State Department, The Reorganization of, 

29 
State Educational Department of Health, 

126 
State Examination, 31, 91 
State Government and the Schools, The, 

19 
State Laws, Enforcing the, 34 



State Superintendency, 30, 283 

Statistics, Instructional, 211 

Stecher, William A. : Handbook of Graded 

Lessons in Physical Training and Games, 

150 
Stenographic Assistance in Principal's 

Office, 213 
Stimson, R. W. : Vocational Agricultural 

Education by Projects, 273 
Storeroom, 180 
Strayer, Geo. D. : Some Problems in City 

School Administration, 236 
Strayer, Geo. D., and Engelhardt, N. L. : 

The Classroom Teacher at Work in the 

American Schools, 236 
Strayer, Geo. D., and Norsworthy, Naomi : 

How to Teach, 261 
Strayer and Engelhardt Card, The, 206 
Student Activities, 135, 151, 259 
Student Community, 154 
Student Finances, 162 
Student Finances : Barnhard, E. W., 165 
Success, Some Requisites of, 279 
Successful Teacher or Principal, 67 
Summer School, 54 
Summer Session, 88 
Supervised Study, 86 
Supervision, 56 

Supervision of Schools in the Rural Dis- 
tricts, 32 
Supervision of Playgrounds, 142 
Supervision of Teachers, 247 
Supervision of the Village and Rural 

Schools, 33 
Supplies, 243 
Survey, Educational, 229 
Survey, Methods and Standards for Local 

School : Bliss, Don C, 235 
Survey, Teachers' Health, 129 
Survey, The Value of the, 75 
Survey of School System, Report of: 

Butte, Montana, 235 
Survey of School System, Salt Lake City, 

236 
Survey of the Public School System, Re- 
port of : Portland, Oregon, 235 
Surveys, Health, 124 
Swings and Teeter Boards, 141 
Symptoms of Common Diseases, 129 
Systematic Professional Reading, 55 



Index 



297 



Table, Age Grade, 228, 229, 230, 231 

Tables of Age and Grade Distribution, 
112 

Tardiness, 251 

Taxpayers' Investment, 109 

Teach, How to : Strayer, Geo. D., and 
Norsworthy, Naomi, 261 

Teacher, Personality of the, 52 

Teacherage, The, 264 

Teachers, Annual Election of, 53 ; Getting 
Rid of Unsatisfactory, 45 ; Getting 
Started, 244 ; Instructions to, 61 ; Atti- 
tude of, The, 258 ; Communicating with 
the Board, 60; Desk, The, 187 

Teacher's Efficiency, Scoring, 209 

Teachers' Health Survey, 129 

Teachers' Institute, 54 

Teachers in the Service, Improvement of 
the, 54 

Teachers' Meetings, 56, 117, 224; Reading 
Circle, 55 ; Register, 202 ; Work, Ap- 
praisal of, 60 

Teaching, Measuring the Results of, 104, 
108; Types of: Earhart, Lida B., 261; 
in the High School, Methods of : Parker, 
S. C, 261 ; of Civics, 4 ; of Community 
Civics, 5 ; of Hygiene, 133 

Teaching the Common Branches : Charters, 
W. W., 261 

Team Work, ng, 140 

Technique of Teaching, 247 

Temperature, Normal, 184 

Terman, Lewis M. : Hygiene of the 
School Child, The, 129, 137 

Testimonials, 52 

Tests, Comparative Value of, 104 

Tests, Diagnostic Value of Efficiency, 105 

Tests, Standard, 91 

Tests as Incentives, 107 

Tests Redirect Teaching, 106 

Textbooks, 175 

Textbooks, Marking Free, 176 

Textbooks, Stamp for Free, 176 

Theisen, W. W. : City Superintendent and 
the Board of Education, The, 50 

Thinking, Purpose of, 256 

Thomas of Middlebury College, President, 
206 

Thorndike, E. S., 94 

Toilets, 189 



Tolbert, Gertrude M. : The School Bul- 
letin and the Community, 236 

To-morrow, The Schools of, 120 

Tools, 180 

Towels, Paper, 189 

Township System, 22 

Training in Self-control, 153 

Transfer Card, 205 

Transportation, Individual, 265 

Transportation, Public System of, 265 

Transportation of School Children: Fo- 
garty, W. S., 273 

Transportation Problem, The, 265 

Truant Offenders, 112 

Truant Officer, 112 

Tubbs, E. V.: Part-time Plan in the 
Centralia High School, 14 

Unconscious Conflict, The : Lay, Wilfred, 

137 
Uniformity in Essentials and Liberty in 

Non-essentials, 30 
Unit Cost, Register, 220 
Unit Cost among Small High Schools, 

Exchange of Pupil: Whitney, F. L., 

236 
Unit Costs, Computing, 214, 218 
Unit Costs, Standardized, 194 
Universal Education, 125 
Universal Secondary Education, 12, 26 
Usefulness of Women, 43 
Use of School Plant, Wider ■ Perry, A. C, 

150 



Vacations, 276 

Vacation School, 87 

Vacuum Cleaning System, 189 

Vans, School, 266 

Ventilation, 185 

Ventilation, Artificial, 186 

Victrola, 175 

Village Policeman, 112 

Vision, Defective Hearing and, 252 

Visiting Other Schools, 55 

Visiting the Homes, 68 

Vitalized School Life, 272 

Vocational Agricultural Work by Projects : 

Stimson, R. W., 273 
Vocational Guidance, 65 



298 



Index 



Vocational Guidance Movement, The : 
Brewer, John M., 76 

Vocational Guidance, Readings in : Bloom- 
field, Meyer, 76 

Vocational Education after the War : 
Snedden, David, 14 

Voice, 254 

War, The Great, 145 

Warrant Registers, 215, 218 

Washington, Booker T., 154 

Wealth of the Nation at the Disposal 

of the Schools, 26 
Weekly Plans, 119 
Wheat, Harry G. : Cost of Instruction in 

the High Schools of West Virginia, 

236 
Whitney, F. L. : Exchange of Pupil Unit 

Costs among Small School Systems, 

236 
Whooping Cough, 133 



Wilcox, George M. : Cost of High School 
Instruction, 237 

Wilds, E. H. : Supervision of Extra-cur- 
riculum Activities, 166 

Wilkinson, W. A. : Rural School Manage- 
ment, 261 

Williams, J. Howard : Scale for Grading 
Neighborhood Conditions, 76 

Williams and Son, C. F., 215 

Wilson, H. B. : Socializing the School Pro- 
gram, 166 

Wilson, H. B. and G. M. : Motivation of 
School Work, The, 93 

Window Ventilation, 185 

Winter Sports, 142 

Withdrawals by Grades, 233 

Women in the Profession, 283 

Written Excuses, Requiring, 109 

Young, W. H. : School Discipline, 261 
Young Educator's Opportunity, The, 116 



Printed in the United States of America. 



